Unlimited Justice, Part 1
by The Incredible Muffin
Summary: With a new generation of heroes just coming into their own, they are formed into a new team. With old friends and enemies alike showing up, will this new team rise to the occasion, or will The Light plunge the world into darkness?
1. Prologue

**BEN 10, JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED AND YOUNG JUSTICE DO NOT BELONG TO ME. ANY OC'S DO, HOWEVER, AND YOU DON'T WANT TO TRY TO STEAL SOMEONE WITH SUPER-STRENGTH.**

**Quick alert: if you haven't read Ben 10: Unlimited, or if you forgot what happens, READ THAT ONE FIRST! Seriously, you won't know what's going on, otherwise.**

**Hi, everyone! I know that you all demanded this sequel, and I admit, I procrastinated writing this, since I was sucked into writing my Star Wars story, which I recommend that you all read. I think you'll like it.**

**This is my first sequel to my first story ever, so it's kind of awesome; I never thought I'd ever reach this point when I first started writing Ben 10: Unlimited. But now I'm here, and I'll do my best to make this story as enjoyable as its parent. Be aware, however, that there will be an extensive author's note, defending certain actions I will take.**

**With all that said, enjoy the story!**

Unlimited Justice, Part 1

Prologue

New Beginnings

Heroes faced many challenges in their lives. Whether it was facing the latest crisis, protecting their secret identity or just the everyday stress that comes with being a superhero, there was always something that a hero needed to rise to face.

Unfortunately, Ben Tennyson—a man who had saved worlds, galaxies, universes and even all of reality on more than one occasion—must have missed the lesson on being a new parent in superhero-camp.

At the moment, he was pacing outside of a room in the Fortress of Solitude, while his wife, Kara Zor-El Tennyson, was giving birth to their child. He had known that this was coming; the advanced Kryptonian scanners within the Fortress had predicted when Kara would go into labor down to the minute. Still, that didn't make it any less nerve-wracking.

Ben finally stopped pacing when a hand gently but firmly landed on his shoulder; he turned to see Bruce Wayne, known to the rest of the world as Batman, looking at him with exasperated amusement.

"Ben, relax," Bruce said, "Kara will be fine, and so will the baby."

"Have _you _had a child with an alien before, Bruce?" Ben snapped back, "Yeah, I didn't think so; I'm allowed to worry, okay?"

Behind the two men, Diana Prince, AKA Wonder Woman, struggled not to laugh, though she did feel a little impressed when Ben simply shrugged off Bruce's infamous "Bat-glare" that the billionaire gave.

The other founding members of the Justice League had traveled to the Fortress once they'd received word that Kara had gone into labor; Wally West, the Flash, John Stewart, the Green Lantern, Shayera Hol, Hawkgirl, and J'onn J'onnz, the Martian Manhunter. Clark Kent, Superman, was inside with Kara, along with several of the robots that manned the Fortress, helping to deliver the baby.

Along with the founding members, several of Ben and Kara's closest friends and family were there as well. The Anodite, Verdona, who was Ben's grandmother, Oliver Queen, Green Arrow and his wife, Dinah Queen, Black Canary, and Kara's best friend, Barbara Gordon, AKA Batgirl.

The heroes had all come in their civilian clothes; they decided that welcoming a new life into the world while in costume seemed a little inappropriate. Without masks—at least, for those who normally wore them—the looks of surprise on everyone's faces was obvious when the Fortress briefly shook.

"That's the third time in the last hour," Wally commented, "How much longer?"

"I don't know," Ollie replied, "but it's starting to worry me."

"Worry _you_?" Dinah asked incredulously, "How do you think _Ben _feels?"

During the last three months of her pregnancy, Kara's hormones had started to get out of control, and that, in turn, made her powers unstable. She would sometimes twitch, and a five-foot hole would appear in the nearest wall, or her heat-vision would suddenly activate and vaporize anything she looked at. In order to keep everyone safe, Batman had developed a red-sun radiation suit that Kara had to wear under her clothes; it negated her powers, much to the relief of everyone.

Now, however, with the baby on its way, the medical devices of the Fortress suggested that Kara be placed under a yellow-sun radiation generator, for both her own health and that of the baby. Unfortunately, that meant that every time Kara had a contraction, she would punch something, and the super-strong blow would shake the entire Fortress. While the potential threat of being buried alive made everyone present nervous, it was even worse for Ben.

Finally, after one last tremor, the Fortress was still; Ben froze and stared wide-eyed at the door. After a few seconds, they opened, and a tired-looking Clark Kent walked out.

"Go on in, Ben," Clark told his cousin-in-law, "There's someone who wants to see you."

Slowly, as if in a trance, Ben made his way into the Fortress' infirmary; behind him, his friends and family smiled widely or cried tears of happiness.

The first thing Ben saw was his wife's face; Kara looked exhausted, but immensely happy as she cradled a tiny, blanket-wrapped figure in her arms. She looked up at him from the bed she was lying on and beamed.

"Ben," she said softly, "come and say hello to your son."

Ben approached the bed and saw the face of his newborn son; he was sound asleep, his cheeks still red and the tiniest wisp of blond hair on top of his head. Ben sat on an adjacent chair and tentatively reached out to take him from his mother. Kara gently handed him over, and Ben slowly rocked his son in his arms.

"Hi there," Ben said, then briefly glanced at Kara; she nodded, letting him be the first one to address their son by his name.

"Welcome to the world, Kenneth Max Tennyson."

…

Over the next hour, the other heroes took turns saying hello to the baby, though they let Clark and Verdona spent the longest time with him.

"Oh, I'm so happy for both of you!" Verdona squealed, though she made sure to keep her voice low as she held her great-grandson close, "You're going to be fantastic parents!"

"Thanks, Grandma," Ben said, his face nearly frozen in a grin, "But I want to know: does he have the Spark of the Anodites?"

Kara, her strength rapidly returning, sat up, her own expression curious; Verdona closed her eyes and gently placed her finger on Kenneth's forehead. After a moment, she removed her finger and opened her eyes again.

"Oh, he's got it, all right," she said proudly, "I'd wager that he'll be one of the most powerful Mana-users I've ever seen. Don't worry, though," she said when she saw Ben's look of worry, "I'm not going to try taking him away, like I did with Gwen; I'll train him here, with his family."

Ben sighed in relief; he trusted his grandmother with his life, but he still remembered the time when she had tried to destroy his late cousin's human body to free the Anodite within. He knew that she wouldn't do that to his son, but he was still a little paranoid.

"Of course he'll be powerful," Kara said with a smug smile, "Considering who his parents are, I wouldn't be surprised."

After Verdona gave Ken back to his mother, she had to ask. "So, do you know if he got any powers from the Ultimatrix?"

Ben looked at the silver gauntlet on his left wrist before answering. "Well, according to the alternate-future version of him I met, he will, but I don't know for sure; we'll have to wait and see."

Verdona nodded, just as Bruce entered the room. "Ben, I've just been contacted by the Watchtower; we have an Omega-level situation, and we're going to take care of it."

Ben nodded, then turned to sit next to his wife, but Kara held out her hand to stop him.

"Ben, go with them."

"What?" Ben was confused, "Kara, they can handle it…"

"It's an Omega," Kara interrupted, "and I did not just become a mother right before the world blows up. Go with them, save the day and then come right back here, got it?"

Ben looked hesitant for a moment, then nodded, kissing Kara before leaving.

"Grandma, can you look after them while I'm gone?"

Verdona nodded, her face serious for once. "Nothing will happen to this family while I'm here."

Ben smiled, then ran out the door.

"Come one, guys," he said the Leaguers, "it's Hero Time!"

…

**Scotland**

In the face of a planetary threat, most of the League was assembled; only Kara had remained behind, and the Justice League's coordinator, Mister Terrific was still on the Watchtower. As the station teleported everyone—those who had gone to the Fortress were now in costume—Ben felt confident with over sixty superheroes on his side. That kind of power could destroy planets… or save them.

As Ben felt the effects of being teleported wear off, he focused on the Ultimatrix; specifically, on the aliens that the device could turn him into. In a flash of green light, Ben was replaced by a humanoid creature with a body of blue stone, arms, head and spikes from his shoulder blades made of green crystal.

"DIAMONDHEAD!" he shouted.

"So, what's the situation?" Flash asked, though not to anyone in particular.

"I can answer that," a man in a blue bodysuit with a golden cape, helmet, boots and gloves said as he flew over to them, "I was monitoring the world's natural flow of magic and noticed a tremendous amount of energy gathering here."

"And that would be bad?" Diamondhead asked.

"It would be under _any_ circumstances," Dr. Fate said gravely, "But a spell that requires this much power would be enough to alter reality itself; not to mention that it is being cast by Morgaine Le Fey."

That was enough to make most of the Leaguers cautious; Morgaine Le Fey was already a powerful sorceress—what could she do with that kind of power? That was a good enough reason to call an Omega-level threat.

"Over there!" Superman said, pointing at a nearby hill; rushing at them an army of strange creatures, amalgamations of stone and wood with glowing runes on their bodies.

"She has used druidic magic to raise an army!" Dr. Fate said, blasting apart the nearest construct, "They are not the real threat; she is using them to delay us, to keep us from stopping her!"

"Understood," Batman said, "Ben, take Captain Marvel, Dr. Fate and Zatanna and stop Le Fey!"

Diamondhead, who had just skewered a charging construct with a dozen shards of crystal, nodded, then disappeared in a flash of green light.

"JET RAY!" the red, manta-like alien yelled, before taking flight, the other three heroes right behind him.

"Okay, Doc, where are we headed?" Captain Marvel asked.

Dr. Fate's eyes glowed briefly, before he pointed over another hill; there, Morgaine Le Fey stood at the center of a circle of runes, her hands raised to the sky as she channeled incredible amounts of power. Protecting her was over a hundred of the wood/stone constructs, only these were bigger, hulking things with hammers for arms.

"Okay, Captain Marvel and I will work on clearing a path," Jet Ray said, "Fate, Zatanna, see what you can do about containing that magic, or at least slowing it down!"

The others nodded as Jet Ray transformed once again.

"RATH!" the tiger-like alien roared, before snarling at the small army in front of him. "Let me tell ya something, magic rock things! This was the worst day you could try taking over the world, 'cause now it's time to go Ultimate!"

The Ultimatrix dial on his chest sprouted four spikes and then Rath's body changed; he became larger, his fur became a light gold, he sprouted a tail that ended in a battleaxe, a large mane grew around his neck, his upper fangs became much longer, and the single claw that emerged from the back of his hands became three.

"ULTIMATE RATH!" he shouted, before charging at the nearest construct, his fist hitting hard enough to shatter it.

The others weren't far behind him; Captain Marvel was a blur of motion, smashing constructs with his fists or blasting them with bolts of magical lightning. Dr. Fate and Zatanna avoided most of the fighting, instead choosing to rush towards Morgaine's position. It was a good thing that they arrived when they did; a dome of red mystical energy was spreading outwards from the runic circle. The two magic-users began chanting spells to try to hold back the dome, but it was like trying to hold back the ocean with a wall made of paper.

"Rath!" Zatanna shouted, knowing that, since her powers weren't on the same level as Fate's, stopping her own spell wouldn't make much of a difference at that point, "Disrupt the runes! That should stop the spell!"

Ultimate Rath nodded, showing that he'd heard; he pointed his fists at a pack of constructs, and the claws on his hands shot forward like missiles and then exploded. Once that was done, he changed back into Rath, then changed into a black-and-blue velociraptor with balls for feet.

"XLR8!" he shouted, then zoomed forward, avoiding the handful of remaining constructs, then colliding with the dome of energy; after a few seconds of resistance, he forced his way through and ran over the runes, making sure to destroy as many of them as he could.

"No!" Morgaine shouted, as the energy changed from red to green, "Do you know what you've done!?"

XLR8 scratched his head. "Um, saved the day?"

"You've reversed the spell, you fool!" Morgaine shouted, before the dome of energy flew outward.

The heroes braced themselves, but emerged unscathed; not too far away, the rest of the Justice League was hit, but were also unharmed. As XLR8 and his team were trying to understand what had happened, they spotted Morgaine trying to slip away.

"Oh, no you don't!" XLR8 yelled, dashing up to her, but he was too late; the sorceress disappeared into a swirling, golden portal. Ben scowled as he turned back to normal.

"Dang, I was hoping to catch her…" Ben looked up to see Dr. Fate, Captain Marvel and Zatanna staring at him. "What?"

"Ben, look behind you," Captain Marvel said, pointing.

Ben turned, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw a tendril of green energy shoot out his back and fly north.

"What just happened?" he asked nervously, "I didn't just get my soul sucked out, did I?"

"I am… uncertain," Dr. Fate admitted, but jumped slightly when a similar tendril emerged from his back, as well as Zatanna and Captain Marvel.

It wasn't just them; nearly every member of the League went through the same process, but again, none were harmed, though all had the same question on their minds.

What was going on?

…

**The Fortress of Solitude**

"So, are there any plans of giving young Ken here a brother or sister someday?" Verdona asked, her tone playful even though her body was tense as she kept watch; after losing so many members of her family years ago, she would let nothing happen to the ones she had left.

Kara could see Verdona's tension, but answered anyway. "Are you kidding? I just had my first kid, why would I even think about another one at this point?"

"Just curious, dear," Verdona said, smiling, "Besides, I need to know how many children I'll have to spoil, and—look out!"

A tendril of green energy had just passed through the ceiling and was headed straight at them; Verdona raised a shield of violet Mana to stop it, but the energy passed through it as if it weren't even there. The tendril then split into three, striking Verdona and then Kara; the Kryptonian tried to shield her infant son from the attack, but was too late. To her horror, the thing hit her son…

And nothing happened, at least, not outwardly; Kara quickly X-rayed Ken, but couldn't spot anything out of place. She did the same thing to herself, but she was also fine; what had happened?

"Verdona," she said shakily, "I need to know if Ken is okay."

The Anodite, getting over her own moment of panic, quickly scanned the newborn, who was still asleep. "I can't feel anything wrong, thank goodness."

Kara heaved a sigh of relief; her baby was all right. Still, she still had to wonder: what was that? And was her son in any danger?

…

**The Watchtower**

Several hours later, the Justice League had assembled in its entirety, awaiting the results of Dr. Fate's analysis of the magic. The founding members, along with Ben and Kara, were in the private conference hall, where Dr. Fate was ready to give them answers.

"The spell was intended to drain life," Fate began, "It was meant to rapidly age not only us, but those we cared about the most; it would age us one year for every day."

"Well, since none of us feel any differently," Wonder Woman said, "I can only assume that the spell failed?"

"Not exactly," Fate said, shaking his head, "According to Ben, Morgaine said that the spell had been reversed. I've done the research, and have come to a conclusion: instead of aging rapidly, we're aging slowly."

"How slowly are we talking about?" Flash asked.

Fate paused for a moment before answering. "One day for every year."

The Leaguers sat back in shock; it would take a whole year for them to age just one day?

"And… and this spell also affected the people we care for the most?" Superman asked, worried about Lois Lane, the woman he'd been planning to propose to next week.

"Yes; I can only assume that Morgaine, or someone operating through her, wanted to use the spell to hurt not only us, but our families and friends as well. Now, our loved ones will live as long as we do."

"Ben," Kara asked worriedly, "What about our son?"

"Oh my god," Ben said, "Is he going to take ten thousand years to grow up?"

Fate hesitated. "I am… uncertain. I would need to scan the child to be sure."

After a quick call to Verdona, who was watching Ken back at the Fortress, the Anodite brought the infant up to the station. Fate placed his hands a few inches above the still-sleeping baby, and muttered a quick incantation; his hands glowed briefly, and were then pulled away as Fate pondered whatever he had just learned.

"Well?" Ben asked, starting to panic.

"The spell was cast on him," Fate said, much to the worry of the new parents, "but it is not affecting him—not yet, at least."

"What do you mean?" Kara asked.

"It would appear that the magic will remain dormant until he reaches maturity," Fate explained, "I believe that the same effect would happen to any children that are born from any of us."

"Okay, so we're immortal," Hawkgirl said stoically, though she held Green Lantern's hand under the table, "And we'll have immortal families?"

"We are not truly immortal," Fate corrected her, "We can still fall prey to injury or disease, and we _are_ aging, just at a snail's pace."

"This will change a lot of things," Batman said, "People will notice if we stop aging, and that puts our secret identities at risk."

"Well, we don't have to worry about that for a few years, at least," Ben said, "But I can make a call to my universe; I can probably get us some ID masks and program them to make us look older as the years go by. After we're supposed to be dead… I don't know, we'll think of something."

"And what about our superhero identities?" Green Lantern asked, "People are still going to ask questions."

"Well, we can just say that the alien members of the League have a much longer lifespan than humans; it's true in J'onn's case, anyway," he nodded at the Martian before continuing, "As for magic-users and metahumans, we can just say that whatever gave them their powers gave them longevity; Lantern can say the same for his ring."

"What about people like Batman?" J'onn said, gesturing towards the Dark Knight, "People like him have no special powers or tools that could explain his lack of aging."

Ben thought about that for a moment. "Well, not many people know who you are under the mask, right, Bats?"

Batman nodded, seeing where Ben was going and taking the reins of the conversation. "People will assume that someone else has taken on the role of Batman, or anyone else without powers."

"Great!" Flash said, relaxing, "Problem solved."

"Not quite," Wonder Woman said thoughtfully, "What if Morgaine or someone else tries to use the same spell, and we can't stop it in time?"

"Not to worry," Fate said, "the magic that was used drained the ley lines of the area, and that was the only place that could be used for a spell like that. Something like this will not happen again."

"Then that leaves only one question," Ben said, "If someone was using Morgaine, who was it… and will they try something else?"

…

**Unknown Location**

"This is a disaster!" a man, shrouded in shadows, said, "This operation was meant to destroy the Justice League, not make them outlive us by millennia!"

"That isn't true," another man said in a gravelly voice, "Yes, the destruction of the League would have aided us in the short term, but in the long…"

"You planned this from the beginning?" a woman asked, her voice both accusing and amused, "And yet, you never told us?"

"If the League was destroyed, that is simply a boon," the gravelly-voiced man said, "but the advantages we can gain with them alive far exceed what we could if they were dead."

"There is still the matter of the League's longevity," the first man pointed out.

"They can still die, like any other person; at any rate, we can use Morgaine's failure and replicate it to a smaller scale, and use it on ourselves and our associates. The plan requires at least two more decades to come to fruition, and I would prefer that all of our assets were in good condition."

The first man huffed. "Very well… but I want my objection to this to be noted."

"It is," the gravelly-voiced man said, and the others disappeared; once he was alone, he smiled.

"So it begins…"

…

**San Francisco**

Later that night, Ben and Kara tucked Ken into his new bed; the baby had been silent since birth, save for the occasional gurgle when he woke up. His parents looked at him fondly for a few minutes, watching him sleep. Ben gently took Kara's hand in his own.

"You okay?" he whispered.

Kara put her head on his shoulder. "Yeah, I'm fine; just thinking about what happened today."

"Yeah, first we became parents, and now we're as close to immortal as we can get," Ben said with a quiet laugh, "But we can handle whatever comes next, and so will Ken, when he grows up."

Kara nodded, her eyes growing heavy from exhaustion; despite the energy-restoring properties of the yellow-sun radiation, she was still drained from both childbirth and the scare from thinking she'd lost her son. Seeing this, Ben gently lifted her up, bridal-style, and took her to their room.

"He's gonna be a hero when he's older," Kara mumbled, as she got into bed.

"Considering his family, I wouldn't be surprised," Ben said, lying next to her.

Both of them were silent for a few minutes, until Ben sat up straight with a worried expression; Kara glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Do you think…" Ben swallowed nervously, "Do you think he'll like smoothies?"

The only response he got was a pillow to his face.

**All right, first chapter to the first sequel is done! Now, I know a lot of you are scratching your heads about what I did, but let me assure you, I have a method to my madness. Everything I do has a purpose at some point, even if it isn't obvious.**

**Believe me, the League's pseudo-immortality has several reasons behind it, not the least of which is that I don't want most of the heroes to be old. I know that a lot of you were hoping for the Batman Beyond universe to show up, but it won't. Sorry, Terry, but Bruce Wayne is the only Batman for me. On to Young Justice!**

**You might also be wondering why this is called Part 1. Well, it's because I realized something in Ben 10: Unlimited. I had several story arcs in one story; think of this thing, which will be broken up into 3 parts, as seasons. This is just the first season.**

**Something I should mention, before I forget, is the Leaguers' costumes; if you don't remember from Ben 10: Unlimited, the founding members are wearing the good-universe costumes from "Injustice: Gods Among Us", J'onn has his Young Justice costume, and Supergirl is wearing feminine version of the costume in Man of Steel.**

**Hope you're ready for excitement, explosions and my first Muffin quote of this story!**

**Muffins, Assemble!**


	2. Independence Day

**BEN 10, JUSTICE LEAGUE AND YOUNG JUSTICE DO NOT BELONG TO ME. MY OC'S DO, AND THEY LIKE TO HURT PEOPLE WHO TRY TO STEAL THEM.**

**Okay, so I really like Young Justice; it's a really good show and a bit darker than Justice League Unlimited, which is fine. However, this story will only loosely follow the Young Justice storyline; certain events may happen, but how they play out will be different, as will the characters that star in this story. I got flak for following the story too closely in Ben 10: Unlimited, so I'm going to be a little more creative.**

**Also, something I wanted to say: thank you all for the favorites and follows! One chapter in and I've got more than 200 faves and over 150 follows! You rock, and this makes me want to write more!**

**And now, a time-skip!**

Unlimited Justice, Part 1

Chapter 1

Independence Day

**Gotham City, July 4, 12:00 EDT**

It was a beautiful day in Gotham, which was actually quite rare. Most days, people tried to just get on with their day in the crime- and trash filth-ridden city and get back home without getting mugged. Today, though, the sun was shining, crime seemed to be nonexistent and, feeling brave, many Gothamites made their way to the city's main park to relax.

Of course, that was when all frozen hell broke loose. One moment, a family was enjoying sandwiches on the hot Fourth of July day; the next, they were encased in ice. They weren't dead, just trapped and unable to move, but if they didn't get help soon, they'd experience frostbite.

Several people tried moving to help, but another blast of ice sent the civilians running for their lives. The few who stayed behind were witness to a man in a large exo-suit walk out from under the shade of some trees. His head, the only part of him that showed any skin, was chalk-white, devoid of any hair and encased in a transparent dome. In his hands was a large cannon, wisps of cold air coming from the barrel.

Mister Freeze smirked at the terror he was causing; he aimed his ice-cannon again, but a batarang knocked it off-target.

"Batman?" Mister Freeze asked, whirling around, "I was wondering when…"

But there was no one in sight, only the sound of mocking laughter.

He looked up to see a boy flip over him; the boy was wearing a skintight, red-and-black outfit with black gloves and a short, black cape, and a black "R" could be seen on the left side of his chest. His black hair was parted at the bangs, which ended at the edges just above his double-diamond mask.

Mister Freeze scoffed. "Boy Wonder… the Bat sent you to cart me off to prison? Frankly, I'm underwhelmed."

"Yeah, sure," 15-year-old Jason Todd, AKA Robin, said as he tossed an explosive disk that cracked Freeze's helmet, "Can we wrap this up? I'm kind of in a hurry here."

Mister Freeze shook his head. "Kids… always in a rush."

"Not talking to you," Robin said, gesturing behind Freeze.

The villain looked up in time to see Batman fall from the sky; the last thing he saw before he was knocked out was the Dark Knight's fist smash through his damaged helmet and into his face.

Batman shot the latest person to bear the mantle of Robin a mild glare of reproach. "You moved in before I gave the signal."

Robin shrugged uncaringly. "Sorry, got a little excited; today is the day!"

…

**New York City, 12:10 EDT**

The citizens of Manhattan ran in fear, as another ice-villain ran amok; this one was Icicle Jr., a young man with the ability to coat his body in ice, as well as create and shoot it. As he watched the people around him scream, he let out an insane cackle.

He wandered around the city for a while, occasionally encasing a car or innocent bystander in ice; he was interrupted, however, when a spiked mace flew down at his feet, barely missing him. Of course, realizing who the mace belonged to, Icicle Jr. knew that the wielder had missed on purpose.

Following the mace's trajectory, Jr. saw a pair of winged figures standing on top of a nearby building. The first was a woman, wearing tight blue pants, boots, a midriff-showing top and a helmet that covered all of her face, save for her mouth, while her eyes were protected by reflective goggles.

The second figure was a young man, broad at the shoulders and bulging with muscles, though that was hidden by the silver-and-black armor that he wore. The only part of his skin that was visible was the lower half of his face, which showed a strong chin and tanned skin. Unlike the woman's grey-feathered wings, his were pitch-black.

Icicle Jr. grinned. "Finally! What does a guy have to do to get a little attention around here?"

16-year-old Rex Stewart, known as Warhawk, snorted in disbelief. "Is he really doing all this for attention?"

His mother, Shayera Hol, who had started going by the name Hawkwoman, rolled her eyes. "He's older than you and he acts like a little kid… let's go spank him."

Warhawk gave an almost feral grin. "With pleasure."

Hawkwoman made the first move, dive-bombing Icicle Jr., with her son right behind her, his Nth-metal gauntlets crackling with energy. Jr. tried shooting them down with blasts of ice, but the two Hawks gracefully dodged. Hawkwoman snatched up her mace and, in the same motion, slammed it upwards into the villain's chin; as he flew into the air, Warhawk brought his fists together and slammed down on Icicle, sending him back down to Earth.

Hawkwoman idly twirled her mace as she and her son landed in front of the unconscious villain.

"Guess he had a glass jaw," Hawkwoman commented, before her expression turned apologetic. "I'm sorry that your father couldn't be here today, but you know he's as proud of you as I am. Are you ready to go?"

"Of course," Warhawk said, a grin breaking through his normally strict visage, "Today is the day!"

…

**Central City, 11:03 CDT**

The villain called Captain Cold found himself thwarted during his latest heist; he was surrounded by a pair of circular blurs, one solid red and the other half-yellow and half-red. He drew his ice-gun and fired as fast as he could pull the trigger, but none of his shots connected.

Wally West, clad in his red armor that identified him as the Flash, loved it when villains, especially his villains, tried to hit him; it just gave him more opportunities to taunt them.

"Seriously, Cold? Stealing ice?" he gestured to the bag filled with diamonds that Captain Cold held, "Isn't that a bit cliché?"

"Come on, we don't have time for this!" Flash's protégé, a young man with brown hair, his body covered in a skintight outfit that was yellow at the top and red at the bottom, with red gloves, yellow boots and red goggles ran forward to yank the bag out of Cold's hand, though he took a grazing hit to his shoulder in the process.

Captain Cold tried to get a bead on 15-year-old Barry Allen, known as Kid Flash, but his uncle dashed in and knocked the villain out with a single punch.

"Calm down, Kid," Flash said.

"Oh, _please_," Kid Flash said, annoyed, "you'll chat it up with the cops, with bystanders, with _Cold_, even! No, no way; today is the day!"

…

**San Francisco, 9:25 PDT**

Very few supervillains attacked San Francisco for two reasons; the main one was that there wasn't much to do in the way of villainy. The second, and most important reason, was that two of the world's most powerful heroes made their home there.

Supergirl, the Girl of Steel and Last Daughter of Krypton, and—though few knew about their relationship—her husband; Ben 10 was the shapeshifting hero who had saved the entire multiverse on more than one occasion.

As if those two powerhouses weren't enough, they now had help, which the villainess Killer Frost was finding out firsthand.

She tried freezing the two heroes who were coming after her, but her shots were melted by the fiery form of Heatblast or dodged by a teenage boy with blond hair, jeans, a black T-shirt and a blue jacket with the number 10 in red on the left side.

Deciding that the younger boy was easier prey, Killer Frost directed her power at only him. She managed to trap the teen between two pillars of ice, but had to create a frozen shield around herself when the young man pointed his hand at her and sent a massive wave of fire in her direction.

"Hey, Frosty!" Ken Tennyson, known to the world as Ken 10, called out, "Just so you know, I'm just the distraction!"

Before Killer Frost could react, a green light flashed and Heatblast was replaced by what might as well have been a walking oven.

"NRG!" the alien cried out, before sending a beam of superheated radiation out of the grille on his helmet.

Killer Frost raised a shield again, but she had fought this form more than once over the years; it was only a matter of moments before her ice melted. When it did, however, she was surprised to see that NRG had stopped.

"What, too scared?" Killer Frost taunted.

Instead of addressing her, NRG scratched the top of his armored head. "What are you doing?"

Killer Frost realized that NRG was talking to someone behind her; she whirled around to see Ken 10 behind her, a spinning ball of green energy in his palm, which he then drove into her midsection.

"Rasengan!" Ken shouted, and the ice villainess was sent flying backwards into a car. The teen hero snickered as NRG walked up to him; even though NRG didn't have a visible face, Ken could tell that his father was doing his best to raise an eyebrow.

"What did I do?"

NRG waved a finger at him. "No more anime for you."

"Oh, come on!" Ken said, knowing that his dad was just messing with him, "I couldn't resist having a little fun this time; today is the day!"

…

Before calling in a teleport, Ben and Ken stopped by their house to make a quick call; there would be hell to pay later if they didn't. They entered the basement, a place that Ben had stored several items, both from his own universe and this one; one of them produced a holographic screen that showed the faces of the other two members of the Tennyson family.

The first was Ben's wife and Ken's mother, Kara Zor-El Tennyson; clad in a blue bodysuit with a waist-length cape, she cut a stunning figure that made Ben wonder how he deserved marrying such a beautiful woman every time he saw her.

The other member of the family was the youngest; at eleven years old, Jennifer Gwendolyn Tennyson, or Jen 10, looked almost exactly like a childlike version of her mother, save for her brown hair and her outfit: blue shorts and shirt, over which she wore a red vest with the number 10 on the back. She looked at her older brother with a combination of pride and jealousy.

"_I can't believe I'm missing this!" _she cried out from the other end of the line, _"Not to mention, it's really cold over here!"_

"_Sorry, honey, I wanted to be there, too," _Supergirl said, patting her daughter on the head, which made her stick out her tongue, _"But you know that we're needed here."_

For a day like today, the Tennyson family had wanted to go together, but a series of earthquakes had devastated parts of Russia, and the Tennyson women had happened to be at the Fortress of Solitude and had rushed over, along with several other members of the League. Due to the damage, they wouldn't be able to make it in time.

"It's okay," Ken said, smiling, "Just be sure to get here for the party afterwards; I can't celebrate my seventeenth birthday without you two."

In Russia, Supergirl found herself smiling at her son's maturity; it was one of the qualities that he had inherited from his father. Of course, there were also his looks; Ken was already the same height as his father, and aside from the blond hair—something he got from her—and the trim beard and moustache that Ben had, the Tennyson men were almost identical.

"All right, we just came to call you and let you know that Killer Frost is dealt with, and we're on our way," Ben said.

"_And I missed Snowflake getting smacked down," _Jen groused, _"This is _so _not fair!"_

"Hey, you'll be doing this in a few years," Ken said, then smirked, "so stop worrying, brat."

"_Jerk!" _Jen shot back, her tongue sticking out again.

The elder Tennysons rolled their eyes at their children's behavior; despite how they acted, Ken and Jen were actually very close, and would do anything for the other.

"Okay, enough of that," Ben said, "It's time to get moving; see you both later tonight."

"_All right, I love you both!" _Supergirl said, waving, _"And if we can't make it back before midnight, I just want to wish you happy birthday, Ken!"_

"Love you too, mom," Ken said, then glanced at Jen, "And I suppose that you're… okay."

"_You suck!" _Jen yelled, before the call was ended.

Ben affectionately ruffled his son's hair. "You ready to go?"

"I've been waiting forever for this," Ken replied, batting away his father's hand before giving him a hug, briefly forgetting his super-strength.

"Ken! Air!" Ben gasped.

"Sorry, Dad," Ken apologized, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

After getting oxygen back into his lungs, Ben transformed into Diamondhead and tapped the dial on his chest. "Mister Terrific, we're ready."

In a flash of light, they were gone.

…

**Metro Tower, Metropolis, 14:00 EDT**

Ken and Diamondhead appeared outside of the Metro Tower, next to Batman, Robin, Hawkwoman and Warhawk.

"Hey, guys!" Ken said, high-fiving Warhawk and giving Robin a fist-bump.

"What kept you?" Robin asked.

"Family," was all Ken said, and the other two nodded in understanding.

The older heroes exchanged greetings, but the sound of rapidly-approaching feet drew everyone's attention; Flash arrived, with Kid Flash just a second behind him.

"Aw, man," Kid Flash moaned, "I knew we would be the last ones here!"

"Why didn't you just teleport here?" Warhawk asked, "That's what we all did."

"What's the point of super-speed if you don't walk anywhere?" Flash asked, a wide smile on his face.

"What's the point of super-speed if you're still last?" Kid Flash grumbled, but he still grinned as he greeted the other young heroes.

As the eight heroes began walking towards the Metro Tower, dozens of civilians began snapping pictures of them.

"Is that Batman? How often does he come out during the day?"

"Hey, it's Diamondhead! He's my favorite of that guy's aliens!"

"Oh, look, it's Flash's sidekick, Speedy!"

"No, you idiot, that was Green Arrow's sidekick years ago; this guy's name is, uh, Flash-Boy!"

Kid Flash slumped slightly. "I've been doing this for three years, and people still can't remember my name."

"It's okay," Robin said, "they still think that I'm the first Robin."

"Nobody even remembers that I _have_ a name," Ken added, "I really should get something better one day."

"So, you ready for this?" Diamondhead asked, cutting off the commiseration.

"Absolutely," Warhawk said.

"And I'm glad that all four of us were invited," Ken said, to which the other young heroes agreed; the four of them had known each other for years, not long after Jason Todd had been adopted by Bruce Wayne six years ago.

It wouldn't feel right for any of them to join the Justice League without the others with them.

"Still, when was the last time that the four sidekicks were together in uniform like this?" Kid Flash asked.

"Hey, since we're joining the League, I think we can drop the 'sidekick' title," Warhawk said.

"Good point," Robin said, "Honestly, now Ken can say 'it's Hero Time' instead of 'it's Sidekick Time'."

"Shut up, Bird Boy," Ken growled, though he didn't really sound annoyed.

"You all seem a little on edge," Hawkwoman commented, her sharp eyes noting the slight tension in the teens' postures.

"Yeah, sorry," Kid Flash said gesturing to the gleaming tower in front of them, "It's my first time going into any of the League's buildings; I'm a little overwhelmed."

"You're _over_whelmed, Freeze was _under_whelmed," Robin said, "Why isn't anyone just whelmed?"

As the group entered the Metro Tower, the younger heroes saw the massive room that was the heart of League operations on the planet; over a dozen heroes were either talking to each other or working on computers that seemed decades ahead of anything else on the planet.

"Oh…" Robin said, "Maybe _that's_ why."

Two of the heroes broke away from the others to intercept them; the Martian Manhunter, despite his intimidating alien appearance, smiled warmly, while Green Arrow gave a friendly wave and grin.

"Robin, Warhawk, Kid Flash, Ken 10, welcome," J'onn gestured to the enormous room before leading them on a short tour of the rest of the building, "You now have access to the gym, a fully-stocked kitchen and our library."

The group stopped in the last room, where the younger heroes plopped down onto waiting chairs and looked around in awe; for as long as they had been heroes, they had dreamed of the day that they could join the Justice League, and now it was really happening.

While the four teens basked, Batman drew the older heroes to the side for a moment.

"A quick debrief to discuss the _coincidence _of four ice-villains attacking on the same day," Batman looked over at the younger heroes, "We shouldn't be long."

As the older heroes began to walk away, Ken coughed, getting their attention.

"Um, no offense, but since we helped take down those ice-villains, shouldn't we be part of the discussion?"

"Walk before you run," Hawkwoman replied.

"What are you talking about?" Ken asked, "I thought that we were members of the League now; doesn't that mean that we get to, I don't know, do stuff?"

Diamondhead looked a little uneasy, but before he or any of the others could say anything, one of the communication-screens activated, showing Superman's face.

"_Superman to Justice League; there's been an explosion at Genesis Labs and it's now on fire."_

Batman tapped his chin in thought. "I've had suspicions about Genesis for a while now; this could be the perfect opportunity to…"

Before he could finish, Zatanna's image appeared next to Superman's. _"Zatanna to Justice League; the sorcerer Wotan is using the Amulet of Attan to blot out the sun. I'm requesting full League response!"_

Batman glanced at Superman's side of the screen; the Kryptonian shook his head.

"_It's only a small fire; local authorities have it under control."_

"Then Genesis can wait," Batman said, before activating a League-wide communication, "All Leaguers, rendezvous at Zatanna's coordinates; Batman out."

With excited grins, Ken, Robin, Kid Flash and Warhawk dashed up to join the others, who were now moving to the nearest teleporters. Batman, however, held up a hand to stop them.

"Stay put," he said.

"What?" Robin demanded angrily, "Why!?"

Inwardly, Diamondhead winced; he had thought something like this would happen when the League was discussing the younger heroes' membership, and he knew what was coming next. He had argued against it, but had been outvoted by the other senior Leaguers.

"This is a League mission," Hawkwoman said sternly.

"You're not trained," Flash added, though it was rather reluctant; he had been one of the few Leaguers who had taken Ben's side of the argument.

"Since when!?" Kid Flash asked.

"I meant that you're not trained to work as a part of _this _team," Flash corrected, gesturing to the older heroes.

_I thought we were all on the same team now, _Ken thought.

"Don't worry, there'll be other missions," Hawkwoman said, "when you're ready."

"For now, stay put," Batman said, adding a slight glare to his order, before he and the others left.

"Glad you didn't bring you-know-who?" Green Arrow asked the Martian.

"Indeed," J'onn said.

Diamondhead, the last one out, paused at the exit; he looked back to see his son staring at him with a look of hurt and betrayal, and it tore him up inside… until he got an idea.

"You know, it's a shame that everyone else in the League is out of the area," he said nonchalantly, "There's no one to supervise you."

And then he left.

When the doors closed, the younger heroes slumped; they had been so pumped to finally fight against the big-time threats against the world, and they had just been tossed aside. Even though they had been given membership in the League, they weren't given _respect_.

Kid Flash scowled. "When we're ready? How are we ever supposed to be 'ready' when they treat us like… like sidekicks?"

"I thought we already _were _ready," Warhawk said, disappointed, "Were they even going to let us go to the Watchtower, or was this little tour it?"

Now they felt even worse; though they had all been teleported by the space station before, none of them had actually been inside of it, and had been looking forward to doing that today.

"If we were ready, the least they could do was let us get debriefed on the ice-villain thing," Kid Flash huffed.

"And if that was the least they could let us do," Ken added, "how long would we have to wait before we actually _do _get to do the big missions?"

"I have a better question," Robin said, "Why didn't we leave? Why are we still here?"

The four teens slumped again, lost in their own thoughts, before Ken realized what his dad had said: there weren't any Leaguers in the building, which meant that there wasn't anyone to stop them. He glanced over at Robin with a raised eyebrow.

"What's Genesis Labs?" he asked.

Robin stared at him for a full two seconds before he also remembered what Diamondhead said.

"I don't know," he replied, a grin slowly forming on his face, "But I bet I can find out."

He walked over to the computer and began typing.

"_Access denied," _the computer said.

"Heh, wanna bet?" Robin asked, before typing some more; after a few seconds, lines of code began flashing on the screen.

"Whoa, how are you doing that?" Kid Flash asked, impressed.

"Same system as the Batcave," Robin answered, before he cracked open the file he wanted, "All right, Genesis Labs… it's a genetics lab—duh—and it's based in D.C. That's all there is, but if Batman's suspicious… maybe we should investigate."

"Solve their case before they do," Warhawk said, nodding, "It would be poetic justice."

"And they're all about justice," Ken said, giving a thumbs-up, "It's in the name."

"But they said stay put," Warhawk pointed out, his own discipline coming out again.

"For the blotting-out-the-sun mission, not this," Robin argued.

"Wait, are you going to Genesis?" Kid Flash asked, grinning in excitement, "Because if you guys are going, I'm going!"

"Well, I'm going, and Robin's going," Ken said, "And since you're going if we all go…"

The three of them looked at Warhawk, who still looked unsure.

"Just like that?" he asked, "We're a team on a mission?"

"We didn't come for a play date," Robin said.

Warhawk hesitated for a moment, then smiled. "Well, I hope you can hack teleporters as fast as you can computers, 'cause we need to get to Washington."

…

**Washington D.C., 14:30 EDT**

In a flash of light, the four young heroes arrived outside of Genesis Labs; it was a fairly small building, only two stories tall, and looked like a standard office building. The only thing that made it stand out from the surrounding structures was the fire that shot out of the second-story windows, while frantic scientists called out for the fire department below to save them.

While the firefighters bravely tried to put out the flame, something behind the scientists exploded, sending two of them flying. Before the firefighters could so much as gasp, a yellow-and-red blur zoomed past them, running straight up the side of Genesis Labs to grab the falling men and drop them off on the roof. Then, in the same two seconds, that blur turned around to jump inside an open window.

"Was that Flash's sidekick?" one of the firefighters asked, "What's his name, uh, Flash Junior?"

Kid Flash stuck his head out of the window. "It's Kid Flash! Why is that so hard to remember?"

Warhawk flew in through the same window. "Maybe Ken isn't the only one who needs a new name."

Behind the firefighters, Robin and Ken paused.

"Why does KF always run in first?" Ken asked.

"Well, he _is _a speedster," Robin pointed out, "Running is what they do."

Ken rolled his eyes. "Well, we still need to get those scientists out of—Robin?"

It took him a moment, but Ken spotted Robin suddenly on top of a fire truck; a quick use of his grapple-gun later, and Robin was inside the building.

_How the heck did get over there so fast? _Ken wondered, _I'm almost as fast as Barry; why am I the slowest person on the team right now?_

Shaking off his confusion, Ken ran past the firefighters and pointed his hands at part of the inferno.

"Let me help with that," Ken said, before the flames began to move out of the building and towards him; the fire was then absorbed by his hands and vanished. Without waiting for thanks, he ran up to the base of the building and gathered Mana below his feet; a transparent green square of energy appeared, which then lifted him up to the scientists. His eyes glowed green as he held out one hand, and a second platform appeared at his side.

"Get on," he told the scientists, "it's perfectly safe."

The two men on the roof looked at each other uneasily, but did as they were told; after Ken lowered them to the ground, he jumped through the window, where he saw his three friends looking through files and, in Robin's case, on computers.

"You know, there were civilians in danger," Ken said, a little annoyed that he had to do more work than anyone.

"You handled it," Robin said dismissively, "Besides, we're here to investigate, remember?"

Ignoring the young detective, Ken tried using his X-ray vision, but found nothing out of the ordinary until he realized that the bottom floor was lined with lead. That led him to the conclusion that there was something below that no one wanted found. Then his super-hearing picked up the sound of a door closing; quickly following it, he caught a glimpse of something entering an elevator down the hall.

Something with horns.

"Guys!" Ken hissed; the others caught up to him, just missing the strange figure, but they did see the elevator working.

"That's not right," Warhawk said, "Aren't elevators turned off during a fire?"

"Yeah, they are," Robin said, examining the door, "Wait, this is wrong."

A holographic computer screen and keyboard appeared over Robin's left glove; the Boy Wonder typed for a few seconds, then brought up an image of the elevator.

"This is a high-speed express-elevator," Robin told them, "Why would it be in a two-story building?"

"I think the better question," Ken said, "is why there was something with horns using the elevator."

"Horns?" Kid Flash asked skeptically, "I think you need to absorb a little more yellow-sun radiation, dude."

"I'm not making this up!" Ken said defensively.

"I believe him," Warhawk said, "Ken's not the kind of person to mess with us while on a mission; KF, on the other hand…" he trailed off with a smirk, while Kid Flash scowled.

Ken ignored the bickering, instead walking up to the closed elevator; before the other three could ask what he was doing, he turned intangible and put his head through the doors.

"I'm not the only one who gets creeped out when he does that, right?" Kid Flash asked.

"Nope, I think it's weird, too," Robin said, though he did admit to himself that intangibility would come in handy for someone like him.

Ken pulled his head back and became tangible. "You guys are gonna want to see this."

With his super-strength, Ken forced open the doors. The others looked down to see that the tunnel went down far deeper than two stories; it looked like it went down for dozens!

"And now we know why there's an express-elevator," Warhawk said, spreading his wings and slowly flying down; Ken created a Mana-platform, which Kid Flash and Robin stepped onto, and lowered the three of them down.

Robin called for a halt at a door marked '26'. "This door has firewalls that I can breach; all the others are too secure."

"Ken could just rip them open," Kid Flash suggested.

"Let's try the subtle way first," Ken said, his eyes briefly flashing blue, "Besides, my X-ray vision actually works on this door, and there isn't anyone waiting to ambush us; I'm not sure about the levels above us."

While they had been talking, Robin had been able to hack the door, opening it; the four entered and, like Ken said, there was no one to attack them, just a row of red crates.

"Funny, I was expecting more," Warhawk commented.

"Maybe it's up ahead," Kid Flash said; before anyone could stop him, he ran down to the end of the hallway, where it intersected with another hall that went left and right. As he approached it, Kid Flash was wondering which direction to take; before he could make that choice, a thudding sound startled him, causing him to trip and slide into the middle of the hall.

That thudding noise was caused by a veritable herd of large creatures; they had gray skin, with elephantine hind legs and apelike arms. They walked on all fours, using their knuckles as support; their red eyes glowed, though they were partially obscured by the large tusks that emerged from the sides of their heads.

Kid Flash barely rolled out of the way of the lead creature, while the other three heroes finally caught up; not even Robin had a clever quip, as they stared at the strange… things. What none of them noticed, however, was that each creature had a smaller one sitting on its head. These smaller beings tiny, barely bigger than a human hand; they had red eyes and stubby horns and they clung to the larger creatures like a frog.

One of them spotted the heroes, and its eyes and horns briefly glowed.

"I'd say that Batman's suspicions of this place were spot-on," Warhawk whispered.

…

Deeper within Genesis Labs, a man with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail, square-rimmed glasses, sandals and a white lab coat busied himself with creating a monster. He mixed some red liquid into a test-tube filled with blue liquid and nodded approvingly as the red vanished. He was brought out of his tests by the sound of the door opening behind him.

"Dr. Desmond," a man wearing a black combat-suit, gold helmet and gold shield on his left arm said as he marched in; on his left shoulder, one of the smaller gray creatures looked agitated.

"Tell me, Guardian," Dr. Desmond said as he placed the test-tube into a container labeled 'Blockbuster', "What part of 'no interruptions' did you not understand?"

Guardian ignored the scientist's attitude. "One of the G-Gnomes on sublevel twenty-six reported four intruders."

Desmond sighed. "Did I miss a perimeter-breach alert?"

"No…" Guardian said slowly.

"Then the G-Gnome's confused," Desmond said crossly, "Whatever might occur in our faux-lab aboveground, the _real _Genesis is the most secure facility in D.C."

"My job to keep it that way," Guardian replied.

"Fine," Desmond sighed again, "take a squad."

Before Guardian could leave, another figure entered the lab. He as skinny and gray-skinned, wearing a white shirt and pants; his eyes were red and his ears were elfin, while two whisker-like tendrils drooped down like a moustache, and two horns arced upwards.

"Might I recommend that Guardian leave his G-Gnome behind?" Dubbilex suggested, "If violence should occur…"

"The little guy might get in my way," Guardian finished, even as he patted the small creature on the head affectionately.

"No!" Desmond snapped, then composed himself. "The advantage of instant telepathic communication outweighs other concerns." He then rubbed the chin of the G-Gnome that was sitting on his table; a moment later, the horns of both that G-Gnome and the one on Guardian's shoulder began to glow.

Guardian's eyes glazed over as he spoke in a robotic tone. "I need my G-Gnome with me at all times."

He then bowed to Desmond and walked out, Dubbilex right behind him.

…

After avoiding the strange creatures, Ken, Robin, Warhawk and Kid Flash searched the level they were on, eventually finding another locked door. Robin quickly hacked the systems, opening it; not for the first time that day, or even that hour, the four young heroes were stunned.

"Okay, I'm officially whelmed," Robin said; the other three silently agreed with him.

The room before them had rows of large, transparent jars; inside each one was an identical, insect-like creature with arcs of electricity being emitted by its abdomen. The electricity was then absorbed by a device at the bottom of each jar.

"So this is how they hid this big of a facility," Kid Flash said, studying one of the creatures closely, "The real Genesis Labs isn't on the grid; it's power is generated by these… things."

"Maybe that's what they're bred for?" Warhawk suggested.

"Figures," Ken muttered, more than a little disturbed by what he'd seen so far, "Genesis means beginning, or life; these guys are creating new life with these critters, but why?"

"Let's find out," Robin said, already hacking a nearby computer and bringing up images of the creatures they'd seen so far, as well as pictures of ones they hadn't. "They're called Genomorphs… whoa, look at the stats on these things! Super-strength, telepathy, razor claws…"

"It's an army," Warhawk said grimly, "Why else would you make living weapons?"

"But who's the army for?" Kid Flash asked.

"What's that?" Ken asked, pointing to a file on the screen, "What's 'Project Kr'?"

Robin tapped at the keyboard, but all he got was a negative-sounding beep. "No good; the file's triple-encrypted. I can't…"

"Don't move!" a voice ordered; the four heroes turned to see a pack of short, gray-skinned creatures with long tails and razor-sharp claws on their hands and feet. The creatures snarled at them, but didn't attack, as a man with a golden helmet and shield walked into the room.

"Wait a minute," Guardian said uncertainly, "Ken 10, Warhawk, Robin, Kid Flash?"

"Hey, at least he got your names right," Robin joked at Ken and Kid Flash, though his eyes never left the computer.

"Wait, I recognize you," Warhawk said, "You're Guardian; you're a hero."

"I do my part," Guardian said modestly.

"Then what are _you_ doing here?" Kid Flash asked suspiciously.

"I'm chief of security," Guardian said sternly, "and you're trespassing. Don't worry, though; we'll call the Justice League and figure this out."

"I don't think the League will like all of this," Ken said, gesturing to the Genomorphs around Guardian, then the ones in the jars, "Living weapons tend to make them upset."

"Weapons? What are you…?" Guardian trailed off when the horns of the G-Gnome on his shoulder began to glow; when they faded, Guardian snarled and pointed at the heroes. "Take 'em down hard! No mercy!"

The Genomorphs around them charged; Robin disconnected from the computer and threw a smoke pellet at the ground, giving the Genomorphs pause and letting the heroes get ready. Warhawk flew into the air, then dive-bombed two of the creatures, his Nth-Metal gauntlets smashing them to the floor. Kid Flash easily dodged his attackers, his super-speed making their attacks look slow; his own blinding-fast punches took out five Genomorphs in as many seconds. Robin took out two sets of brass knuckles before attacking; he seemed to combine the acrobatics that the Robins before him had possessed, but also added the heavy-hitting power of a brawler.

Ken, meanwhile, had to deal with Guardian. It wasn't that the man had dangerous powers; on the contrary, he didn't have any. Ken was more worried about hurting him too badly; he had seen that the G-Gnome had some kind of control over the hero and figured that Guardian wasn't in full control of himself. Instead of letting Guardian break his hand on his nearly-invulnerable skin, Ken turned intangible and walked through his attacker; before Guardian could react, Ken placed his hand over the man's back and sent several bolts of lightning into him. Guardian fell to the floor, twitching as his nervous system reacted to the electricity.

"Was that necessary?" Kid Flash asked as he ran up to Ken.

"I didn't do any permanent damage," Ken said, "He'll be fine in a few minutes."

Warhawk flew towards them. "Hey, where's Robin? He disappeared halfway through the fight."

Ken used his X-ray vision again, quickly finding him trying to hack open an elevator. He gestured for the other two to follow him, just as another pack of Genomorphs arrived. Instead of staying to fight, they ran to Robin's position; they knew that if they got bogged down by enough Genomorphs, they'd be trapped.

Just before they reached Robin, Ken opened his hand behind him and created a wall of fire; that would give them a minute, at least. When he caught up to the others, he found Kid Flash berating Robin.

"Way to be a team-player, Rob!"

"Weren't you right behind me?" Robin asked, sounding genuinely confused that the others had taken so long to catch up; a moment later, the elevator opened and the four piled in.

Ken could hear the Genomorphs approaching, but the door closed before they reached the elevator; Ken, Kid Flash and Warhawk sighed in relief, before noticing what direction the elevator was going.

"Why are we going down?" Warhawk asked, "Shouldn't we be going up?"

"Excuse me?" Robin asked in an insulted tone, "Project Kr, remember? It's on sublevel fifty-two; aren't you curious about what it is?"

Warhawk and Kid Flash looked unsure, but Ken nodded.

"We're headed down there anyway; might as well see what all the fuss is about." Robin shot him a thumbs-up, but Ken continued, "But I think it might be good to have some backup."

Before anyone could reach for their communicators, the elevator stopped; as soon as the doors opened, all four of the young heroes got ready to fight. Fortunately for them, there was no one there, but the sublevel itself was disturbing.

Like the inside of an intestine, the area looked like it was made out of a tube of flesh; blue, organic pods were attached to the ceiling and walls. The only thing that reminded them that this was still a man-made facility was the occasional metal crate on the floor or the computer plugged into the wall.

Cautiously, they made their way down the hallway, each of them growing more and more disturbed by what they were walking in. Ken looked particularly nauseous when he held his hand a few inches away from the wall while his eyes glowed green.

"What's wrong?" Warhawk asked.

"It's this place," Ken said, "The Mana here… it feels twisted. Whatever they've done here, it feels like a perversion of life itself."

"Great," Kid Flash grumbled, "as if this place weren't creepy enough."

The four finally stopped when the path forked in two directions; Ken looked at Robin.

"So, where to now?"

"Take your pick," Robin said, "Bizarre-looking hallway one or bizarre-looking hallway two?"

"Hold!" the four turned to see Dubbilex standing at the left hallway; his horns glowed and a crate lifted from the ground and were hurled at them.

"I think our choice is made!" Warhawk yelled, then ran down the other hallway, the others right behind him.

Dubbilex took only a few steps before the doors to another elevator opened, allowing Guardian and a pack of Genomorphs to run out.

"They are headed for Project Kr!" Dubbilex shouted, pointing at the direction the heroes had gone.

Guardian didn't even glance at Dubbilex as he lead the pursuit; if he had, he might have seen the slight smile on the Genomorph's face.

…

After a few seconds, Kid Flash had outpaced Warhawk, then Ken and Robin did the same; the ceiling was too low for Warhawk to fly here, and his armor was slowing him down some. Thus, when he caught up to the others, he found that Ken was using his super-strength to hold open a large, vault-like door for Robin and Kid Flash to go through. Warhawk could see that, even with his super-strength, Ken was having difficulty with the door; the Thanagarian sprinted the last few meters, diving through to the other side. He, Robin and Kid Flash turned to see the door close—on Ken!

"Ah! Ken!" Kid Flash tried to pull open the door, but it was in vain; for a brief moment, the three thought that their friend had been crushed.

They quickly felt relieved when Ken simply walked through the solid door before turning tangible again.

"Were you guys worried?" Ken asked, smirking; scowls from the other three was the only reply he got.

"Think that'll hold them?" Warhawk asked, gesturing to the door.

"It will in a second," Robin said, bringing up his holo-computer and typing furiously; after a few seconds, a loud click could be heard. "I disabled the door; we're safe."

"No, we're trapped," Warhawk said, scowling at the low ceiling; his people were creatures of the sky, and being underground for too long grated at his nerves.

"Hey, guys?" Kid Flash said, pointing at something hidden in shadows, "You might want to see this."

After Kid Flash found a light-switch, the other three got a good look at what the speedster was talking about. In the center of the room was a teenage boy, around their age; he appeared to be unconscious, leaning against an upright table, inside of a glass pod. His muscled form was easily seen; he wore a white, skintight jumpsuit that only showed the skin of his hands, wrists and face. His face looked far too serious for someone his age; the only thing that seemed teenager-like was the spiky mess of black hair on his head. But all of that was secondary to what the four heroes saw on his chest: a red, triangular shield with a large, red S inside.

The crest of the House of El.

"H-hey, look," Kid Flash pointed at a Kr that was printed on the side of the pod, "Big K, little r; the atomic symbol for Krypton!"

"Is he a clone?" Warhawk asked.

"Um, let me check," Robin said, hacking into the computer, "Weapon designation: Superboy, a clone that was force-grown in… sixteen weeks!? Based on the theories used in subject: Galatea—whoever that is—created from DNA acquired from Superman."

"More like _stolen_ from Superman," Warhawk growled.

"The solar-suit he's wearing allows him to absorb yellow-sun radiation twenty-four-seven," Robin continued.

"No way the big guy knows about this," Kid Flash said, "What do you think, Ken? … Uh, Ken?"

The three found that Ken was standing right in front of the pod, his hand hovering close to the glass and his eyes glowing.

"What is it?" Robin asked, "Is he like the hallway back there?"

Ken shook his head. "No, he's not messed up like everything else here; his Mana is normal. At the same time, though, he feels, I don't know, incomplete." He looked above the clone's head and saw three of the smaller Genomorphs perched there. "What're those things doing?"

Robin pulled up another file. "Genomorph Gnomes; they're telepathic, and force-feeding him an education."

"And who know what else?" Kid Flash asked, "They're making a slave out of Superman's… son."

Ken felt himself shaking angrily; Superman was his cousin, though when they weren't being superheroes, Ken called him 'Uncle Clark'. That meant that, even if it was only through biology, this 'Superboy' was also his cousin. Even though he had just laid eyes on the clone, even though he hadn't even spoken to him, this felt like the people here were brainwashing a member of his family; he didn't like it.

"_Now_ we contact the League," Warhawk said, reaching for his communicator; however, nothing happened, and the same lack of function was present for everyone else's comms, too.

"We're in too deep," Kid Flash said, "literally."

…

Outside the large door, Guardian waited patiently, along with nearly a hundred Genomorphs; it was only with mild irritation that Guardian turned to see Dr. Desmond sprinting towards them, with Dubbilex right behind.

"They're still in there!?" the scientist raged, "With the weapon!?"

"We can't get the door open," Guardian calmly explained.

"Use your telekinesis!" Desmond shouted at Dubbilex.

"I have tried," the Genomorph said, "but to no avail."

"Useless!" Desmond yelled, then took a deep breath. "This is a debacle; get some G-Trolls down here to muscle the door open!"

"They're already on their way," Guardian said, his patience now wearing thin.

"You do realize," Desmond said slowly, "that once we get in there, we can't ever let them leave."

"Doc, these aren't you typical 'meddling kids'," Guardian said in a warning tone, "You don't want to get on the wrong side of the Justice League."

"Better than getting on the wrong side of the Genesis Board of Directors, believe me," Desmond replied; then he glanced at the G-Gnome on his shoulder and had an idea. "Contact the G-Gnomes inside Project Kr."

The G-Gnome's horns began to glow.

…

Inside of Project Kr, each of the heroes came to a decision.

"This is wrong," Kid Flash said, his usual positive attitude now gone.

"We can't leave him like this," Robin agreed.

Warhawk nodded. "We'll get him out of here… Ken?"

Ken hadn't moved from his spot in front of the pod; he nodded, still staring at the clone. Robin tapped away at the computer for a few moments, and then the glass sides of the pod retracted into the floor and ceiling. For a moment, the clone didn't move; then his hand twitched, and his eyes fluttered open to look right at Ken.

Ken began to smile at his new cousin, but that changed when Superboy's face turned into a snarl and he lunged forward. Ken was too surprised to turn intangible or defend himself; the clone's fist caught him in the face, sending him flying into the wall, denting it. Superboy then started smashing his fist into Ken's face over and over, before Warhawk caught one of his arms with both of his.

"What are you doing!?" the Thanagarian shouted, before Superboy grabbed him by the wing and threw him into the ceiling; as he came back down, Superboy brought both of his hands together and swung, knocking Warhawk into Kid Flash, the impact hard enough to knock them both out.

"We're on your side!" Robin yelled, trying to distract the clone from killing anyone by shooting tear gas into his eyes; it only caused Superboy momentary irritation before he backhanded Robin across the room.

Robin wasn't finished, however; pointing his glove at Superboy, a tazer shot out and hit the clone in the chest. It didn't even faze him; instead, he grabbed the wires and pulled, drawing Robin in close, then caught him in a lariat that knocked him into the floor.

Ken shook off his daze just as Superboy began to bring his foot down on Robin's skull; acting on reflex, Ken opened his mouth and shot a powerful bolt of lightning, hitting the clone in the gut and knocking him backwards. After taking a second to check that Robin was only unconscious, Ken turned back to Superboy.

"Why are you doing this?" Ken asked, "We only want to help!"

The clone didn't even blink; instead, he gave an animalistic roar and rushed forward in a blur of super-speed. This time, though, Ken was ready for him; he fell onto his back and kicked, just as Superboy reached him. The blow sent the clone into the ceiling, but it didn't slow him down for long. As soon as he landed on the floor, he threw a punch, catching Ken in the leg; momentarily stunned, Ken was left wide open for a devastating barrage of punches and kicks. With the initiative his, Superboy swiftly beat his cousin into unconsciousness.

…

Desmond was counting down the seconds until the G-Trolls arrived, when a pair of hands punched through the edge of the vault door and forced it open. The scientist smiled as he walked past the clone and saw the four unconscious heroes; he glanced back at Superboy.

"Attaboy," he said.

**Hooray for longer chapters! I like writing them. Okay, some things that I know you want to ask:**

**First: Ken. Physically, he looks like the Ben from Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, save for blond hair and the different jacket. No, he does not have his version of an Ultimatrix yet; that's for later. His Kryptonian powers are super-strength, super-speed, high durability, a healing factor and enhanced senses (super-vision, super-hearing, X-ray vision, stuff like that), and all of his Kryptonian powers are 50% of what Superman can do. The powers he got from Ben are Heatblast's powers, Shocksquatch's powers, Big Chill's intangibility, Chromastone's energy-absorbing (I haven't shown that one yet) and Mana-based abilities. You might be wondering why he wasn't that effective against Superboy; I have two answers for that, but you'll have to wait for one. The first reason is that neither Ken nor his friends wanted to fight.**

**Second: Jen. That's right, I gave Ken a younger sister. She'll be more prevalent in part 2 and 3 more than this one, but she will show up. I don't want to spoil anything yet, so I'll just say that she has the same Kryptonian powers as Ken.**

**Third: Robin. Yeah, I used Jason Todd. I know a lot of people don't like him, but I do. He seems a lot like the Robin from the show, but I have a theory: I think that all Robins are trained to be detectives, acrobats, fighters and hackers by Batman, but some excel at certain areas more than others. Dick Grayson was the best acrobat of the bunch, Tim Drake was the best detective, and Jason Todd seems like the better shot/fighter, hence the brass knuckles. If you want to know why I didn't use Dick or Tim, I used them in Ben 10: Unlimited. This is 17 years after the end of that story; they're too old to join the team.**

**Fourth: Kid Flash. Okay, I switched them; Wally West is now the Flash, and Barry Allen is now KF. Again, this is because of Unlimited, and I had to use the timeline that I had created. I guess I should mention that this is more of an AU Crossover than just a crossover. Also, don't expect this KF to be slow in comparison to the Flash, like in the show; there was no reason why, save for that stupid ending to season 2. KF got his powers in the same way that Flash did, so why isn't he just as fast? The theory that I will use in this story is that KF's powers increase as he reaches physical maturity; Flash got his powers as an adult, so he has full access to them. Once KF grows up, he'll be better.**

**Fifth: Warhawk/Hawkwoman. Quick thing about Shayera: she's now going by Hawkwoman, and is using the New 52 outfit that Hawkgirl uses. There is next to no info on this Warhawk, so I'm making him a bit like Aqualad (i.e., responsible and a bit more likely to follow rules) but a little more aggressive in a fight. Speaking of which…**

**Sixth: Aqualad (or lack thereof). For those of you who wanted him to be in this… sorry, he's been replaced by Warhawk and to a lesser extent, Ken. I liked Kaldur in the second season, but aside from a few moments in the first season, he was about as interesting as unbuttered toast. Sorry, Kaldur, but you've been replaced.**

**Seventh: Genesis Labs. I used Cadmus in Ben 10: Unlimited, and if another company started up with the same name, the League would be all over them. I had to use something else, and I happened to be watching The Search for Spock the other day.**

**Eighth: Superboy. Again, something I didn't like about the show was the Superboy seemed really weak when stacked up against, well, everyone. Come on, even Ultra Humanite was able to hurt him! Expect him to be stronger and faster than he was in the show. Now, the other reason why he dominated the fight was that, unlike Ken, he wasn't holding back; at this point, he's a bit of a rage-monster. As for Ken deciding that Superboy is his new cousin… that'll come into play later.**

**Ninth: Speedy/Red Arrow. Sorry, but Roy didn't really have much of a place here, either. He'll show up, but his little story sub-plot is either going to be less important or not exist at all.**

**If you have any questions, feel free to send me a PM, but be nice about it; I don't want hate-mail, and if you find a genuine error on my part, let me know so that I can fix it.**

**Tell me where the muffin is! Only then, do you have my permission to die.**


	3. Fireworks

**BEN 10 AND YOUNG JUSTICE BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. MY OC'S BELONG TO ME; IF LOST, PLEASE RETURN THEM.**

**I am so thrilled by the positive feedback I've been getting; you all rock!**

**Just to clarify, from now on, all telepathic dialogue will begin with { and end with }, mostly because when I try to underline telepathic dialogue, I have to re-edit the underline when I upload.**

Unlimited Justice, Part 1

Chapter 2

Fireworks

**Genesis Labs, July 4, 22:00**

Dr. Desmond paced nervously in his office as he waited. He had sent a message to his superiors several hours ago, and it was taking time for them to assemble; he knew that it would be a long wait, but it didn't help his nerves.

Finally, six screens lowered from the ceiling and activated; each one showed the outline of a figure, but any and all details were obscured by a white light. Even though he couldn't see their expressions, Desmond could tell that all of them were either annoyed or curious.

"_Dr. Desmond," _one figure said in a deep voice, _"You require an audience with The Light?"_

"Y-yes," Desmond stammered, knowing that these people could end his career—and his life—with but a word, "Sorry to disturb you at this late hour…"

"_Just get to the point," _another figure demanded.

"Of course," Desmond said, taking a breath before continuing, "Well, we had a small fire here at Genesis Labs; the origin of the incident is still unclear, but it seems to have attracted some… unwanted attention. Four sidekicks—Robin, Warhawk, Kid Flash and Ken 10—breached our security. They found and released the weapon—the Superboy—but the clone was under our telepathic control and, as ordered, turned against his would-be liberators. The four are contained, and we don't believe that the League knows that they're here."

Now, Desmond looked uncertain. "Uh… what should I do with them?"

The figures were silent for a moment; then one, the one who had told him to get to the point, spoke up.

"_Clone them."_

The first figure agreed. _"The substitutes will serve The Light… and _only _The Light."_

"And the originals?" Desmond wanted to know; the first figure's response was quick in coming.

"_Dispose of them; leave no trace."_

As the screens switched off, the meeting over, Desmond let a sick smile appear on his face.

…

**July 5, 00:01**

As Desmond finished preparations for the new Project: Sidekick, he decided to check on the status of Superboy in the clone's chamber; he didn't really care about the clone, but he didn't want to risk the wrath of his superiors if the weapon was in any way damaged. Instead, what he found was a chamber that was empty, save for a handful of Genomorphs repairing the damage it had sustained earlier.

Desmond glared at Guardian, who was overseeing the efforts. "Where is the weapon!?"

"Superboy? He carried the intruders to the cloning chamber," Guardian replied.

"We have Genomorphs for that!" Desmond cried, gesturing to the gray-skinned creatures, "Get the weapon back in its pod, now!"

"I don't see the harm in letting the kid stretch his legs," Guardian argued.

"Don't you, now?" Desmond asked, as the horns of the G-Gnomes on his shoulder and Guardian's began to glow.

For a moment, Guardian's expression was blank, before being replaced by fury. "That clone belongs in a cage!"

As Guardian stormed off to retrieve Superboy, Desmond smiled; mind-control was a wonderful thing.

…

{Time runs short; you must awaken.}

{You must awaken, NOW!}

Ken 10 jerked awake at the sound of a voice in his head, and immediately regretted it; he felt awful, and he looked like he was about to be the victim of a cheesy science-fiction horror movie. He, along with his three friends, were in pods, restraints around their wrists and ankles.

Normally, this wouldn't be much of a problem for Ken; he could rip open most things, and if he couldn't, there was always his intangibility. Now, though, his powers weren't working! A flash of green light pulsed in his pod, and he suddenly understood why; there was a device within the pod that was emitting bursts of Kryptonite radiation! He had only been exposed to the green rock once, in a controlled setting so that he could recognize the effects, and had learned something interesting: the Kryptonite made him too weak to use the powers he'd inherited from his father, just like it did with his Kryptonian ones. The only upside was that, unlike his mother and Superman, he didn't need to be under the light of a yellow sun to recover from the effects; he had other methods.

A groan pulled Ken out of his thoughts; out of the corner of his eye, he could see his friends waking up. Kid Flash glared at the person who was staring at them from outside of the pods: Superboy, the one who had knocked them out in the first place. While Robin, Kid Flash and Warhawk scowled defiantly, Ken only narrowed his eyes; the Kryptonite that poisoned him kept him from doing much else.

"What do you want?" Kid Flash demanded, but Superboy said nothing. "Quit staring, you're creeping me out!"

"Piece of advice, KF," Robin said, "Don't tick off the guy who can fry you with a look."

Despite the pain he was in, Ken tried to steer the conversation to something more productive.

"Why… did you… attack us?" he forced out.

"Dude, are you okay?" Kid Flash asked, concerned.

"Kryptonite," Ken grunted, "not enough to kill me, but I'm not going anywhere."

"Nice work, Supey," Robin growled at the clone, who continued to stare at them, "way to poison your own family."

"I don't think he was in control of himself," Warhawk said, desperate to get his mind off of his claustrophobia, "I saw the horns of those Genomorphs glowing right before he attacked us."

"Wha—what if…" Superboy cleared his throat, unused to speaking at all, "What if I wasn't in control?"

"He can talk?" asked a shocked Kid Flash.

Superboy's expression hardened. "Yes, _he _can."

The other heroes shot Kid Flash a dirty look; even Ken raised an eyebrow.

"It's not like I said 'it'," the speedster defended.

"So, the Genomorphs taught you?" Warhawk asked, "Telepathically, I mean."

Superboy nodded. "They taught me much; I can read, write, and I know the names of things."

"But have you seen them?" Robin asked, "Have they ever actually let you see the sky, or the sun?"

"Images are implanted in my mind," Superboy said, but then admitted, "but I haven't actually seen them."

"Do you know what you are?" Warhawk asked, "_Who _you are?"

This time, Superboy straightened and said, almost with pride, "I am the Superboy, a Genomorph, a clone made from the DNA of the Superman. I was made to replace him, should he perish… or to destroy him, should he turn from the light."

The four trapped heroes looked at each other in apprehension, before Ken spoke, fighting through the pain that the Kryptonite caused him.

"To be like Superman is a great goal, and to be part of his legacy is an honor and a privilege; believe me, I know. But like Superman, you have the right to have a life of your own, beyond that solar-suit, beyond your pod and beyond Genesis."

"I live _because _of Genesis! It is my home!" Superboy shouted, but they could all see a twinge of doubt; Robin decided to press the initiative.

"Your home is a test-tube; we can show you the sun."

"Actually, I think it's after midnight," Kid Flash interrupted, before looking at the clone, "But we can show you the moon."

"We can show you—introduce you—to Superman," Warhawk added.

Superboy glanced at Ken. "Can you really do that?"

Ken smiled weakly. "Well, he _is _my uncle, and I think that makes you my cousin; I'm sure I can make something happen."

Superboy's eyes went wide, as his brain made the connection to what Robin had said earlier; if Ken was Superman's family, then that meant that Ken was also _his _family. He didn't know why—the Genomorphs hadn't put much more than the textbook definition of the topic in his mind—but the thought of being part of a family made him feel warm inside.

"Nothing of the sort will be happening," a voice from the back of the room said; out of the shadows, Desmond, Guardian and a female scientist arrived.

"They'll be… otherwise occupied," the scientist added, before turning to the other scientist, "Activate the cloning process."

"Pass! The Batcave is crowded enough," Robin joked, though the thought of being cloned by the bad guys made his stomach turn.

Desmond ignored him, turning instead to Guardian. "And get the weapon back in its pod!"

"Hey, how come he gets to call Supey an it?" Kid Flash asked, as Guardian walked up and placed his hand on the clone's shoulder to guide him out. Said clone looked into Ken's eyes.

"Help us," Ken asked quietly, "please."

To the hope of the trapped heroes, Superboy shrugged off Guardian's hand; before he did anything else, the G-Gnome on Desmond's shoulder jumped to Superboy's.

"Don't start thinking now," the scientist said, as the G-Gnome's horns began to glow, and Superboy's expression turned blank, "See, you're not a real boy; you're a weapon, and you belong to me!" Desmond momentarily looked uncertain. "Well, to Genesis; same thing. Now get back to your pod!"

Slowly, Superboy turned to leave the room; once he was gone, the female scientist activated the cloning process. Inside each pod, several probes mounted on mechanical arms jabbed into any exposed skin of the heroes; in Ken's case, the probes were tipped in Kryptonite. At the base of each pod, a transparent sphere was slowly filling up with DNA and trace amounts of tissue. The process was agonizing, and their screams could be heard throughout the level.

As Desmond observed, he noticed something. "Where's Dubbilex?" he jumped when the Genomorph suddenly appeared behind him. "Lurking, as usual; get the G-Gnomes downloading their memories. When that's done… _delete_ the source material."

Ken heard this; he knew that if something wasn't done soon, he and his friends would die, while their clones-to-be would replace them and their families would be none the wiser. Ken only knew of one person who could help them; whether or not he _would_ help was another matter.

"Superboy," he whispered as quietly as he could, knowing that only someone with super-hearing would hear him, "You are a living person; that means that you can choose your own destiny: slavery, or freedom. But ask yourself this: what would Superman do?"

…

Down the hallway, the clone heard the whisper. At first, he ignored it; then a small part of him remembered that warm feeling he had when Ken had called him his cousin. With that memory, came determination; he had something in this world, someone who actually cared about him as a person.

He would not lose that.

In an act of willpower that would have made anyone in the House of El proud, Superboy forced his body to stop moving; fighting the Genomorph for every inch, his hand moved to his shoulder and flicked the G-Gnome. It was only the slightest of taps for him, but it was still enough to knock the creature out.

Free of the Genomorph's influence, Superboy made his choice.

…

All action in the cloning chamber ceased when a loud impact crashed against the door; a second impact hit a moment later, and then the door was ripped out of the wall. Through the pain, the trapped heroes grinned when they saw Superboy heft the two-foot-thick door over his head and then heave it at the computers in the room. The computers crumpled like tin foil; when they did, the DNA-extractors went offline, as well as the Kryptonite device.

Desmond, Guardian and Dubbilex moved to intercept him.

"I told you to get back to your—oof!" Desmond was cut off when Superboy backhanded him in both Guardian and Dubbilex.

"Don't give me orders," Superboy growled, before moving to the pods.

"So," Kid Flash said, recovering fastest, "You here to help us or fry us?"

Superboy's eyes narrowed at him for a moment, before he gave a small smile. "Huh; I don't seem to have heat-vision, so I suppose helping is my only option."

Before he could free any of them, Robin's restraints opened, allowing him to kick open the glass part of the pod and fall to the floor; Superboy noticed several lockpicks retract into the fingers of his gloves.

"Finally!" Robin said, "Lucky Batman _isn't_ here; he'd have my head for taking so long."

"Seriously? _That's_ what you're worried about?" Kid Flash asked.

"The whole League will have our heads after tonight!" Warhawk shouted.

Robin ignored them and walked over to one of the remaining computers; after a moment of studying them, he pressed a button, opening the glass of the other pods, before he turned to Superboy.

"Free Ken; I'll get Warhawk and Kid Mouth."

"Don't you give me orders, either," Superboy said warningly, but he jumped up to Ken's pod anyway and ripped off the restraints, while Robin picked the locks of the others.

With the restraints gone, Ken fell forward, only to be caught by Superboy, who slung his arm over his shoulders.

"Thanks," Ken said sincerely; Superboy only nodded in response.

"We need to get you some yellow-sun radiation," the clone said, "The Kryptonite…"

"Don't worry," Ken interrupted, then pointed to an electrical socket in the wall, "Can you get me over there?"

Superboy did so, but before he could ask what he was doing, Ken knelt by the socket, licked his finger and stuck it in; Superboy could see the voltage pouring into Ken, but he wasn't being harmed. Instead, he seemed to be recovering! After a few seconds, Ken stood up and wiped his hands.

"There we go," he said happily.

"What did you do?" Superboy asked; from what he knew, Kryptonians couldn't do that, nor could they shoot lightning from their mouths, as he had seen Ken do during their fight.

"I'll explain later," Ken said, "Let's worry about getting out of here first."

The other four teens nodded and began running for the door, only for the voice of Desmond to stop them at the exit.

"You—you'll never get out of here! I'll have you back in pods before morning!"

"That guy is not whelmed," Robin said, digging into his utility belt and drawing four explosive disks, "Not whelmed at all."

"What is it with you and this 'whelmed' thing?" Kid Flash asked as Robin threw the disks; a second after each disk hit one of the spheres, they exploded, destroying the stolen DNA.

Desmond rose to his feet just as the heroes left; after briefly glowering at the burning remains of the lab, he snapped his fingers, and a G-Gnome jumped onto his shoulder.

"Activate every Genomorph in Genesis."

The G-Gnome's horns began to glow.

…

"How far do we have to go until we reach the surface?" Warhawk asked as they ran.

"We're on sublevel forty-two," Superboy answered.

"A bit of a walk," Kid Flash commented, "but we can cut it down if we make it to the elevator."

Unfortunately, their path was blocked by a dozen G-Trolls; behind them, hundreds of the clawed Genomorphs began awakening from stasis. Since the G-Trolls were closest to the elevator, the group decided to go through them and ignore the smaller enemies.

The first G-Troll tried to crush them with its massive fists, but they dodged. Not wanting to get bogged down, Warhawk flew over the Genomorphs' reach, while Robin's acrobatics and Kid Flash's speed allowed them to get around easily enough. Ken just turned intangible and walked through them. The only one who chose to fight was Superboy; with a feral roar, he lunged at the first G-Troll and knocked it flat on its back. Before the clone could follow up on his offensive, another G-Troll smacked him to the floor; thankfully, Superboy was back on his feet seconds later and slammed his attacker into the wall. To the other heroes, it looked like Superboy would rather fight than flee.

"Superboy, we need to go!" Ken shouted, as the impacts from the clone's blows began shaking the entire sublevel, "We can't fight here!"

"You want to run!?" Superboy shouted, then grabbed one of the fallen G-Trolls and threw it, knocking the others down, "_Now_ we can go!"

"Geez, and I thought _you_ were aggressive," Kid Flash muttered to Warhawk, who ignored him in favor sprinting the remaining distance to the elevator.

Instead of waiting for Robin to hack the security systems, Ken and Superboy just ripped the doors open; impatient, Superboy grabbed Kid Flash and jumped up the elevator shaft, appearing to fly. Then, at the tenth sublevel, he began to sink.

"I… I'm falling," Superboy said, as if he couldn't believe it.

Seeing them fall, Ken thrust out a hand and created a platform of Mana for them to land on, right at the fifteenth sublevel; he created another platform to lift up him and Robin, while Warhawk flew up under his own power. When they caught up to Superboy and Kid Flash, the clone was looking confused and disappointed.

"Superman can fly," he said, "Why can't _I _fly?"

"Don't know," Kid Flash said, "but it looks like you _can_ leap tall buildings in a single bound; still cool."

Superboy smiled a little at that, then looked at Ken. "Can you fly?"

Ken shook his head. "I'm only half Kryptonian; flight wasn't one of the powers I got from Mom."

"Guys!" Robin shouted, pointing up at the incoming express-elevator, "This'll have to be our exit!"

Superboy kicked open the door, and the five dove through, the elevator barely missing them. Before they could decide where to go next, swarms of Genomorphs appeared to their right and their front; with nowhere else to go, they headed left.

{Turn left, brother,}Superboy heard in his mind.

With no time to question what had just happened, Superboy shouted, "Go left! Left!"

The group turned at the first left they saw.

{Turn right.}

"Right!"

The five stopped at a dead end.

"Great directions, Supey," Kid Flash said sarcastically, "You trying to get us repodded?"

"No, I…" Superboy scratched his head, "I don't understand."

"Don't apologize," Robin said, pointing at the large vent near the top of the wall, "This is perfect!"

A few seconds later, when the Genomorphs reached the same dead end, they found nothing but the vent's grate on the floor.

"At this rate, we'll never get out," Kid Flash groaned as they crawled through the vents, then brushed one of Warhawk's wings out of his face, "Do you mind?"

"You're dealing with a claustrophobic alien with superhuman strength," Warhawk growled, his tightly-furled wings barely able to fit in the ventilation shaft, "Don't push it right now."

"Shh!" Superboy hissed, then glanced at Ken, who was ahead of him, "Do you hear that?"

Ken nodded; both of them could hear the sound of dozens of the smaller Genomorphs inside the vent with them.

"Don't worry about any pursuers," Robin said with a grin, "I've got a plan; come on!"

…

With every second, Desmond grew more and more annoyed as he, Guardian and Dubbilex ran down the hallway, a squad of Genomorphs in tow; Desmond was tracking the heroes' progress on a datapad.

"Someone—Robin, I'd wager—hacked our systems, deactivating internal security cameras," his face lit up as he realized something, "But he neglected the motion sensors!"

The sensors indicated that the heroes would end up on the men's restroom; the three of them waited under a vent.

"The Genomorphs are closing in," Desmond said excitedly, "We have them cornered!"

A few seconds later, the vent popped open, but it wasn't five teenagers who flew out; instead, the pursuing Genomorphs fell on top of Desmond and the others. Angrily, Desmond punched away a Genomorph that had fallen on him.

"He hacked the motion sensors."

…

"I hacked the motion sensors," Robin said as he closed down his holo-computer and gave Ken a high-five.

"Sweet," Ken said, "but there're still plenty between us and out."

"But Warhawk and I finally have room to move!" Kid Flash said, before dashing off; Warhawk grinned and spread his wings, flying after the speedster.

As he, Robin and Superboy ran after them, Ken thought, _just once, I'd like everyone to stick together._

Kid Flash ran up a dozen flights of stairs, while Warhawk flew straight up; if they could get out of the building, they could contact the League. However, several squads of Genomorphs blocked Kid Flash's way; while the speedster simply barreled through them, Warhawk took the time to knock out any stragglers that might try to go after Ken, Robin and Superboy.

Those three were only two sublevels below Kid Flash and Warhawk; in order to keep up, and allow Robin to focus more on his computer-work, Ken created a platform of Mana for Robin to stand on that Ken dragged behind him on a tendril of Mana like a kite, while he and Superboy used their super-speed to catch up.

"More behind us!" Robin shouted, pointing backwards, where dozens of Genomorphs hissed and snarled as they chased them.

Superboy solved that problem by stomping down on the stairs behind them, shattering them and preventing any further pursuit.

…

Inside of the high-speed elevator, Desmond and his group prepared for the worst.

"We can cut them off on sublevel one," Guardian said.

"We'd better, or the board will have our heads," Desmond then placed his hand over his face, "_My _head."

Without warning, he hit the emergency stop at sublevel two.

"I need to get something from Project Blockbuster, just in case," he said, hurrying out, "I'll meet you at sublevel one!"

…

Kid Flash arrived at sublevel one first, but when he reached the door that would take him to the surface, it closed.

"Oh, crud," he managed to say before he accidentally slammed into the door.

"Dude, that was an epic fail," Ken said as he and the others caught up, "but now we're cut off."

"Yeah, I noticed," Kid Flash said, rubbing his sore head, "But can't you just go intangible and go outside?"

"I'm not leaving you guys here," Ken said, his tone deadly serious.

He and Superboy tried opening the door by hand, but it was too thick, and more Genomorphs were right on their tail; Robin shut down his holo-computer with a frustrated huff.

"I can't hack the security fast enough," he said, then saw the incoming mob of Genomorphs and kicked open a side-door. "This way!"

The five ran through, only to find themselves trapped between their pursuers and a waiting mob of creatures, led by Guardian. Robin drew his brass knuckles, while crackling white energy surrounded Warhawk's gauntlets and Ken wrapped his fists in Mana; Superboy and Kid Flash took fighting stances.

If they were going to go down, they'd do so fighting.

Just before the heroes made the first move, the stubby horns of the dozens of G-Gnomes present began to glow; with a massive telepathic assault, the heroes' minds were overwhelmed, and they fell to the ground, unconscious.

Superboy felt something brush against his mind and he weakly opened his eyes to see Dubbilex standing in front of him, his horns glowing.

{Perhaps, for the sake of all Genomorphs, our brother Superboy should make up his own mind.}

Superboy's eyes widened. {It was you…}

{Yes, brother,} Dubbilex answered, {I started the fire and lured your new friends into Genesis, woke them when they were in danger…}

{And guided me,} Superboy finished, {Why?}

{Because you are our hope, the Genomorph hero,} Dubbilex gestured to the other Genomorphs, who seemed to be waiting for something, {You will blaze a trail for all our brothers, showing us the way to freedom.}

Guardian, who had also been incapacitated by the G-Gnome on his shoulder, shook his head when the little creature hopped away.

"What the… what's going on?"

On the ground, Ken, Robin, Kid Flash and Warhawk began to regain consciousness; Ken looked around uncertainly.

"Um, is this a good thing or a bad thing?" he asked, then looked at Superboy, "Please say that it's a good thing."

Superboy ignored him as he stood up, looking Dubbilex in the eyes.

{What is your choice, brother?}

Superboy glanced at the other heroes. They'd risked everything to help him; he couldn't do less for them, but he couldn't do that as a slave to Genesis.

"I… choose… freedom."

Dubbilex smiled and nodded, while the other Genomorphs made various sounds of approval. The young heroes stood back up, while Guardian still looked confused.

"Feels like a fog… lifting from my mind," the hero muttered.

"You all right?" Warhawk asked, "You're not going to try to kill us again, are you?"

Guardian shook his head. "No, and I'm sorry about that. Now, go; I'll deal with Desmond."

"I think not."

A small knot of Genomorphs parted in fear of the scientist; the man held up a small vial filled with a bright blue liquid.

"Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Genesis!" before anyone could stop him, he drank the contents of the vial.

Almost immediately, he began to change; his muscles bulged to the point that most of his clothes practically exploded, and then he began to grow to nearly ten feet tall. His eyes turned black with red pupils, while his skin fell away, save for a few patches that remained on his face, revealing a gray hide. With an animalistic roar, Desmond ceased to be; in his place was Blockbuster.

"Get back!" Guardian charged, but Blockbuster merely backhanded him into a wall, denting it and knocking the hero out.

"Who didn't see that coming?" Ken muttered.

Superboy tried his hand next; unlike Guardian, he was actually able to land a few hits, but while they did some damage, Blockbuster was more than tough enough to take it. Not only that, he was able to dish it out; one blow sent Superboy flying, but when the clone jumped and tried to slam the monster, Blockbuster countered by jumping up, tackling Superboy and crashing up onto the ground floor of Genesis.

"Well, that's one way to bust through the ceiling," Robin said, using a grapple-gun to climb through the new hole.

"Think lab-coat planned that?" Kid Flash asked as Ken raised them both up to the hole with a Mana-platform.

"I don't think he can plan anything anymore," Warhawk answered as he flew ahead of them.

When they reached the fight, they found Superboy and Blockbuster still slugging it out; the monster, however, got an advantage when he grabbed Superboy's leg and hurled him at the other heroes. Ken pushed the others out of the way with a tendril of Mana, so that they weren't killed by the living Kryptonian missile; as such, he was the only one hit, and they both slammed into the doors of Genesis.

The other three ran back to help their teammates up; the five teens looked at each other and nodded in a wordless agreement.

Blockbuster only roared, then charged.

"It's Hero Time!" Ken said to himself as he led the countercharge.

Kid Flash quickly pulled ahead and slid between and behind Blockbuster's legs; distracted by the speedster, Blockbuster wasn't able to defend against Superboy and Ken when each landed a punch on his face. Unbalanced, Blockbuster stumbled back, only to trip and fall over the crouched Kid Flash.

"Learned that one in kindergarten," he said smugly.

Robin tried to follow up the attack with several batarangs, but Blockbuster easily batted them away, then kicked Warhawk in the chin and into the ceiling when the winged hero tried to dive-bomb him.

Blockbuster stood up and saw Superboy in a ready stance; despite that, Blockbuster slammed the clone into a pillar and viciously punched him in the face. Superboy was stunned for a moment, and Blockbuster readied his fist for another blow; this time, though, his attack was stopped when Ken caught his arm with a tendril of Mana. Blockbuster yanked his arm forward, drawing Ken with him; just when he got close, the monster elbowed Ken in the face, and he fell to the ground.

Kid Flash saw Blockbuster raise his foot to stomp on Ken and dashed forward to help; Warhawk, having recovered, saw the same thing and charged again. Blockbuster merely backhanded Kid Flash into Warhawk, and the two flew into a wall. During this, Blockbuster's grip on Superboy slipped, and was accidentally thrown into another pillar; when Ken was able to get back up, Blockbuster tackled him into a wall. This time, though, Ken was able to go intangible, and the only thing Blockbuster hit was the wall itself.

Robin, who had been hanging back to see if there was a strategic weakness in Blockbuster, realized that it wasn't the _monster_ who had a weakness that they could exploit.

"KF, get over here!" he shouted; the speedster shook off his daze and hurried over to the Boy Wonder.

Blockbuster might not have been smart, but he had instincts; he knew that Ken would simply stay intangible, so he moved on to Superboy. Seeing that, Ken sighed; Superboy wasn't up yet, so he'd have to keep Blockbuster busy. Becoming tangible once again, he blasted the monster in the back with a column of fire. Before he could go intangible again, Blockbuster turned and brought both of his fists down; while he didn't have time to go intangible, Ken was able to bring up a shield of Mana.

While Blockbuster worked on bringing that down, Superboy finally got back up; he saw the monster attacking Ken and charged, punching Blockbuster in the kidneys. The monster roared and tackled the clone.

"Got it?" Robin asked Kid Flash after explaining the plan.

"Got it," the speedster replied, and dashed off; he dove at Blockbuster, just as he was going to break Superboy's back over his knee. His punch hit the monster in the face, but the remaining human skin on Blockbuster's face stuck to his glove.

"Got your nose!" Kid Flash taunted, holding up the partially-dissolved cartilage.

Enraged, Blockbuster dropped Superboy and attacked Kid Flash, though the hero used his speed to stay just out of reach; it gave Ken, Superboy and Warhawk the chance to get their second wind.

"Ken! Superboy! Warhawk!" Robin waved the three over to him, while Kid Flash continued being the distraction.

"Come and get me, you Incredible Bulk!" Kid Flash dodged another blow that shattered another pillar, only stumbling when a piece of debris hit him in the back.

Robin pointed at three of the remaining pillars. "This one, this one and that one!"

The three teens did as Robin directed, smashing apart the pillars, while Robin began deploying several explosives. Once that was done, Ken sent a small burst of flame up to the ceiling, activating the sprinklers; once he felt there was enough water on the ground, he gathered it up with a shovel made of Mana and moved it to the center of the room.

Kid Flash lured Blockbuster into position, when Superboy tackled the monster's legs, while Warhawk punched him in the face; Blockbuster fell backwards onto the large puddle. When he fell, Ken shot a bolt of lightning from his mouth at the soaked monster, doing a hefty amount of damage, as well as stunning him.

"Move!" Robin yelled, as the explosive he'd strategically placed on the remaining pillars went off.

The explosion was set off in a way that made the building implode on itself, right at the very center, where Blockbuster stood; still, even with most of the building focused on one spot, Ken dove on top of Warhawk, while Superboy covered Robin and Kid Flash. In a few seconds, the entire aboveground section of Genesis Labs collapsed.

A few moments later, the debris shifted, then fell away, revealing the five teenagers; Robin and Kid Flash's costumes were torn in several places, and Warhawk's armor was pitted and cracked. Superboy's solar-suit was ripped, and there were several large holes in Ken's jacket and shirt.

Ken looked around at the devastation, but didn't see Blockbuster get up. "I think we won… all right! Let's all get smoothies to celebrate!"

Robin panted heavily for a moment before replying. "Was there ever any doubt that we'd win?"

He and Kid Flash high-fived, but quickly winced and held their bruised ribs. Warhawk grinned slightly.

"That was kinda fun," he said, "Can we do that again?"

The others rolled their eyes, but Superboy's attention was caught by the bright sphere in the sky; Kid Flash followed his gaze and gestured upwards.

"See? The moon."

Superboy smiled happily, but that soon turned to awe when he saw who was now in front of the moon, flying towards them. A familiar face, wearing a blue bodysuit with red boots, gold belt and a red cape; on his chest was a triangular shield with a red "S" on it.

"Oh, _and_ Superman," Kid Flash said, "Can we keep our promises, or what?"

Behind Superman, other figures arrived, all of whom were recognizable; there was Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, Hawkwoman, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Captain Marvel, and so many more. It looked like over half of the Justice League had arrived; Ken swallowed nervously when he saw his mother, Supergirl, and his father, now as Jet Ray. He leaned over to Warhawk.

"Dude, both of my parents and both of yours."

"I know," Warhawk said, his eyes wide, "We are _so _dead."

"Is it too late to let that ugly guy kill us?" Robin asked, seeing the look in Batman's eyes.

No one could answer though, as the Leaguers landed in front of them, Superman in the lead; before anyone could stop him, Superboy met him halfway between the two groups. Superman looked down at the clone, his head tilted in confusion. Taking a deep breath, Superboy lifted the ripped front of his solar-suit, showing the crest of the House of El; several Leaguers gasped, including Supergirl.

"Is that what I think it is?" Batman asked.

Kid Flash rushed up to stand next to Superboy, the others right behind him. "He doesn't like being called an 'it'."

"I'm Superman's clone," Superboy announced proudly; now, nearly every Leaguer was shocked.

Superman's eyes were the widest, but he soon recovered, his expression thoughtful; Batman, on the other hand, gave the younger heroes a hard stare.

"Start talking."

…

An hour later, after going over every little detail, the Leaguers began talking amongst themselves, no doubt discussing what was to be done with the protégés. During that time, Wonder Woman caught Superboy staring at his 'father' and tapped Superman on the shoulder. The Man of Steel glanced back at the clone; he took a breath, then walked up to him.

"I'm, uh, sorry if I seem… distant," Superman began, "It's just that, I've had some bad experiences with Kryptonian clones in the past, not to mention the surprise of seeing you…"

The only response Superboy gave was to cross his arms; Superman tried again.

"Look, would it be okay if you gave me a little time to process this? I promise we'll talk soon… as soon as I get over the shock that there's a clone of me who _doesn't_ want me dead."

The corner of Superboy's lip twitched at Superman's attempt at humor. "I can live with that, Superman."

Superman seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, before leaning in and whispering, "Call me Clark."

Superboy's eyes went wide as Superman flew off to bring Blockbuster to a secure prison; they had just met, and Superman was willing to tell him at least part of his secret identity.

"That's a good start," Ken said, playfully punching the clone on the arm and getting a lopsided grin in response.

What neither of them saw was Supergirl, who glared at the clone with undisguised suspicion; Ben, who had turned into Fourarms, did notice, and resolved to talk to his wife about it later. For now, though, he made his way towards Batman, who was joined by Flash and Hawkwoman.

"Genesis will be investigated," the Dark Knight said, "All fifty-two sublevels; but let's make one thing clear…"

"You should have called!" Flash interrupted, giving an uncharacteristically stern glare to his nephew.

"End results aside," Batman said severely, "We are not happy; you hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed orders and endangered your lives. You will _not_ be doing this again."

The five teenagers looked at each other for a moment, before Ken spoke up.

"Actually, yes we will."

"Ken…" Fourarms began, not sure what his son was doing.

"Dad, we did good work here tonight; the work we've been trained to do. Together, without the League, we made something important."

"If this is about your treatment at the Metro Tower," Flash said, "The four of you…"

"The five of us," Kid Flash interrupted, gesturing to Superboy, "And it's not."

"We're ready to use what you taught us," Warhawk said standing at attention across from Hawkwoman.

"Why bother teaching us at all if you won't _let_ us use what you taught us?" Robin asked.

"Why are we letting them tell us what to do?" Superboy asked, then stepped forward, "It's simple: get on board, or get out of the way."

The five stood shoulder-to-shoulder, ready to make good on Superboy's ultimatum if necessary. Batman's eyes narrowed in thought.

"Give me three days."

…

Over the next three days, the five teens recovered from their injuries while their parents and teachers read them the riot act. Superboy had been invited to stay at Ken's house, much to Kara's irritation, but Superman had cut in, instead inviting the clone to stay at the Fortress of Solitude for that time, until they could decide where he would stay permanently. While there, he had chosen an outfit to use as a superhero: blue combat pants, boots and a black t-shirt with the red "S-Shield" on it.

Ken, meanwhile, had to endure not only his parents' lectures, but also his sister's whining.

"It's not fair!" she had complained, "You got to go on a cool mission and you didn't even tell me!"

It had taken a lot of placating on Ken's part to make her stop, as well as a lot of patience; Ben knew that his son had that kind of patience, but it was only after the events at Genesis that he really started to show it.

Still, after three days, the five were anxious to know what their fate would be.

…

**Mount Justice, Rhode Island, July 8, 08:04 EDT**

Mount Justice was a hollowed-out mountain, and was in fact a secret base that belonged to the Justice League. The cave was filled with advanced technology; much of it rivaled what was on the Watchtower.

The five teens watched as various Leaguers brought in equipment and supplies, before Batman caught their attention.

"This cave was used as a supply depot for the Justice League in its early days," he said, "We are now repurposing it for your use. Since you five are determined to stay together and fight the good fight… you'll do it on League terms."

Batman gestured to two heroes behind him: a red robot with a blue cape, and a beautiful blond-haired woman, wearing a blue jacket, black one-piece outfit with fishnet stockings and combat boots.

"Red Tornado has volunteered to live here and be your supervisor, and Black Canary is in charge of training; I will deploy you on missions."

"Real missions?" Robin asked skeptically.

"Yes, but covert," his mentor replied.

"The League will still handle the obvious stuff," Flash said, tapping the lightning-bolt icon on his costume, "There's a reason we have these big targets on our chests."

"We haven't had the wool pulled over our eyes since the incident with Cadmus," Ben said, "and Batman wants a team that can operate on the sly, to go after the smarter bad guys."

Batman nodded. "The six of you will be that team."

"Great!" Ken said, before his smile turned into a confused frown, "Wait, six?"

Ben tilted his head, pointing with his eyes; the five teens turned to see the Martian Manhunter enter the cave, but he wasn't alone. At his side was, to the team's shock, another Martian! She—for it was obviously female—had shapeshifted into a near-perfect image of a teenage human girl, save for her green skin. She wore a white shirt with a red X-shaped harness, a short blue cape, blue gloves and blue skirt that ended just above her knees. Unlike the Manhunter, whose chosen form was bald, the female Martian had long, red hair.

"This is the Martian Manhunter's niece," Batman said, "Miss Martian."

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Liking this gig more every minute," Kid Flash whispered to Robin, before speaking at a normal volume, "Welcome aboard! I'm Kid Flash, that's Robin, Warhawk, Ken 10—it's cool if you forget their names."

Miss Martian smiled, though her hands were clasped together nervously. "I'm honored to be included."

The boys all walked up to introduce themselves, save for Superboy, who seemed a little overwhelmed; Ken, however, noticed.

"Hey, Superboy!" he called out, "Come meet Miss M!"

Superboy walked up to her; when he did, Miss Martian began to change. Her cape melted into her body and her shirt changed from white to black, though the red harness remained.

"I like your t-shirt," she said meekly, to which Superboy gave a small smile; Robin playfully elbowed the clone, while Kid Flash threw a comradely arm around his shoulders, Warhawk grinned and Ken stepped forward, an excited smile on his face.

"Today is the day."

…

**Unknown Location**

Concealed by blinding light, the hidden figures who had controlled Genesis Labs was not happy; they had lost Superboy, and now Guardian had taken over the labs, effectively ending its usefulness.

"Can we afford to leave Genesis as it is?" one member asked, "What if the Justice League finds something to use against us?"

"All information on our group was wiped, per security protocols," another member replied calmly, "At best, the League might know that a group controlled Genesis Labs, but not who or how many people are in that group."

"What concerns me," another member said, "Is the children; according to the footage of the incident, the League is employing young heroes to do their dirty work… that's a dark twist."

"Yes," the group's leader said thoughtfully, "but one that can be played to our advantage. Even the temporary loss of the weapon may prove useful. Eventually… everyone sees The Light."

**Well, that was fun! I hope you enjoyed this, because from here on, I'm making more changes to the original material; different characters, new adventures, and a whole lot of angry Superboy! Speaking of which…**

**I can't be the only one who went ballistic when Superman turned into such a jackass in Young Justice. I mean, I get being a little uncomfortable; heck, if my clone showed up one day, I'd need a little time to process it all, too. But come on, Supes; you treated him like he didn't even exist! Not cool!**

**Now, I have a little announcement: I will be taking a bit of a break from this story, in order to work on Star Wars: Outcast Blades. The plot bunnies for that story have been breeding even more plot bunnies, and I have to do something before my brain explodes. If you haven't read it yet, I hope that you do; I really enjoy writing it, and you can use it as a stopgap until I post on this story again. Don't worry, though; I plan on coming back to this one in a couple of weeks, probably after I finish my current college term.**

**Today is the Muffin.**


	4. Welcome to Happy Harbor

**BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME, YOUNG JUSTICE DOES NOT BELONG TO ME, BUT MY OC'S BELONG TO ME AND—DOES ANYONE EVEN READ THESE THINGS? AH, WHATEVER.**

**Okay, so after some thinking (I'm a little ashamed that I didn't come up with this kind of scheduling earlier) I've decided that I will try to have a chapter of this story up every other week. The week that I don't post for this story will be devoted to my Star Wars story. This way, I can try to have a steady stream of updates without burning myself out on one single story.**

Unlimited Justice, Part 1

Chapter 3

Welcome to Happy Harbor

**San Francisco, July 17, 23:16 PDT**

While crime was kept generally low in San Francisco, that didn't mean it was nonexistent. Petty criminals would pop up like cockroaches; every time one was stopped, another would appear. Unfortunately for the ones by the docks, they were the latest roaches to be stepped on.

As a pair of men unloaded a crate of drugs from a shipping container, a smoke pellet landed at their feet and went off; the men dropped the crate, vainly trying to wave the smoke out of their eyes. As they struggled, a yellow-and-red blur ran in and knocked them out with a few super-fast blows.

Another trio of criminals stared stupidly at their fallen friends; exposed and vulnerable, they were easy pickings for a winged form as he swooped down and knocked them out with energy-enhanced gauntlets.

Finally getting their act together, the dozen remaining crooks grabbed their weapons and aimed at the flying intruder, but a pair of teenage boys, one wearing a blue-and-red jacket, the other wearing red and black, intercepted them. While one used acrobatics to avoid attacks, the other simply ignored the bullets bouncing off of him, knocking out men with a single hit.

"Thanks for the assist, guys," Ken 10 said, even as a bullet bounced off of his nose.

"Like you actually needed it," Robin commented, tripping up a fleeing criminal with a thrown bola, "You're bulletproof!"

"Yeah, that's true," Ken admitted, shooting out a fairly weak bolt of lightning from his hands, stunning another man, "But doing this by myself gets boring."

Kid Flash zoomed up, sliding like a baseball player, feet first, and knocking another man down. "At least you're giving us something to do; we've been a team for two weeks now, and still no mission!"

"Batman won't tell me when we're getting one," Robin huffed as he caught another man in a sleeper-hold, "So don't ask me."

"Maybe there won't be a mission," Warhawk added, punching out the last criminal, "Maybe this whole 'team' thing is just a way to make us stop asking for things until _they_ think we're ready."

"Oh, come on," Ken said, gathering up the fallen criminals and wrapping a steel girder around them, "That's pretty underhanded, even for Batman. Er, no offense, Robin."

"I wouldn't be surprised if this really _was_ one, big misdirection," Robin sighed, "I mean, they've kept secrets from us before; look at Miss Martian!"

"I did look at her," Kid Flash said, a dreamy expression on his partially-covered face, "I looked at her over and over… and I saw her first!"

"Ignoring the skirt-chaser," Warhawk said, "Did you know about her, Ken? I mean, she's the niece of the guy who married your great-grandmother!"

"That's a little confusing to say," Ken said, before returning to the topic, "But no, I never knew about her. In fact, I didn't know there were any Martians left, besides J'onn."

"Maybe we'll have a chance to ask her when we head to the Cave tomorrow?" Robin suggested.

"Great idea," Kid Flash grinned, "and while we're at it, I'll ask for her number."

"How long until he stops?" Ken whispered to Robin.

"Until he meets someone else, or she punches him," Robin whispered back.

"Anyway," Ken said at a louder volume, "I'll make sure the cops get these guys; see you tomorrow."

The other three heroes said their farewells and took off; once they were gone, Ken walked over to a payphone and dialed 911.

"Hello, police? I'd like to report some criminals that need to be arrested…"

…

**Mount Justice, July 18, 11:16 EDT**

As Ken, Jason and Barry were teleported into the Cave, the computer announced their presence.

"_Recognized: Ken 10 B-01, Robin B-02, Kid Flash B-03."_

The three teens were in their civilian clothes; Ken wore slacks, sneakers, a black T-shirt, dark-green jacket and a pair of square-rimmed glasses. Surprisingly enough, all he had to do to hide that he was a superhero was slouch slightly and act nervous around people; while he was around his teammates though, he acted more like himself.

Jason wore black pants, a black hoodie and a green shirt, as well as sunglasses to hide his identity from anyone who didn't already know who he was.

Barry wore jeans, a light-yellow long-sleeved shirt and a short-sleeved red shirt over that; out of the three of them, he didn't have to hide his face.

The three walked into the Cave's operations center to find Warhawk, Superboy and Miss Martian waiting for them. Rex was the only one who didn't change into civilian clothes; he usually preferred to wear his armor.

Superboy, who had yet to take a civilian name, wore jeans, his black T-shirt with the crest of the House of El on it and a brown jacket. Ken was glad that his cousin actually had civilian clothes, but it still confused him; Superboy didn't really have a secret identity to protect yet.

Miss Martian, whose name she had yet to share, was wearing a red skirt, white blouse and a red, short-sleeved jacket over that. She was still obviously a Martian; her skin was still green.

"So, are they here?" Barry asked excitedly to the three aliens who had been waiting, "What did they say?"

"They're here now," Warhawk said, his own excitement starting to get the better of him.

"Yes!" Barry hissed, before dashing off to the Cave's entrance in a blur.

"Should we head after him?" Superboy asked, after greeting Ken with a nod and a smile.

"Nah, let him get it out of his system," Ken said dismissively, "I think he had some coffee or something."

Jason and Rex shivered; they had seen the insanity that happened the few times that Barry had caffeine. The five teens hurried after the speedster, who was practically dancing in place at the Cave's secret entrance. A few seconds later, two figures flew down from the sky; one was Red Tornado, and the other was Jet Ray. As soon as the latter touched down, he transformed into Ben.

"Hey, everyone," Ben said with a grin, "Hope we're not late."

"_We have arrived at the designated time,"_ Red Tornado said, _"We are not late."_

Ben pinched the bridge of his nose. "You really need to lighten up, RT."

Ignoring the banter, Barry dashed up to the shapeshifter and the android. "So, do you guys have a mission for us?"

Red Tornado shook his head. _"Mission assignments are Batman's priority."_

Ben shrugged. "Sorry, Barry; even I couldn't get the guy to tell me when you'll have a mission."

"I hope it's soon," Warhawk said, "If not, KF might explode."

"I'd pay money to see that happen," Jason muttered. Ken and Superboy heard him, thanks to their super-hearing; Ken struggled not to laugh, while Superboy's lip twitched upwards.

"Aw, man!" Barry moaned, "What are we supposed to do now?"

"_Perhaps you could take a tour of the Cave," _Red Tornado suggested, _"It may also help build synergy between the team."_

"What he means is," Ben said, rolling his eyes, "Until you get a mission, it might do some good to get to know each other; it'll help you work as a team."

"Thanks, Dad," Ken said; Ben had already told him that there wouldn't be a mission today, so he had already gotten over his disappointment. "Come on, let's check out our 'clubhouse'."

"Oh, Superboy and I can show you around!" Miss Martian said cheerfully, "After all, we've spent the most time here; we can play tour-guide!"

Superboy shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

Over the last two weeks, Superman had been getting to know his clone better, but had yet to offer him a permanent place to stay; his reasoning being that he wanted to talk to Lois about it first, but his wife was on a long-term assignment in the Middle East. Ben had wanted to let Superboy stay with his family until then, but Supergirl still had issues; with nowhere else to go, Superboy had bunked at Mount Justice, just like Miss Martian, much to her joy. It was painfully obvious to everyone—except Barry—that the Martian was crushing on the clone.

Everyone moved back into the Cave, where Ben and Red Tornado split away from the younger heroes to put the finishing touches on the android's quarters. Before he was too far away, though, Ben called out over his shoulder.

"Oh, Ken; just wanted to let you know that the team's ride should be in the landing bay in a few minutes."

Ken immediately gave a wide grin, while everyone else looked confused; they were getting their own transportation?

Despite not knowing the details, Barry grinned. "Sweet! We get our own ride! Do you think the League is giving us a Javelin or maybe something custom-built for us?"

"I'll show you when he gets here; until then," Ken cleared his throat and spoke in a mechanical tone, "please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle, and enjoy the tour."

"Uh…" Miss Martian looked at the others uncertainly, not getting it; Ken shook his head.

"Never mind, let's just go."

Miss Martian showed them around the Cave enthusiastically, while Superboy followed behind them with his hands shoved into his pockets, looking like he couldn't care less. Halfway through the impromptu tour, however, the clone sniffed the air.

"Is something burning?"

Miss Martian whirled around in shock. "My cookies!"

Levitating into the air, she flew into the kitchen, where smoke was starting to drift out of the oven. Rather than burning her hands, Miss Martian opened the oven with her telekinesis and then floated a tray onto the counter; on the tray were what looked like two-dozen lumpy hockey pucks.

"Oh, and I was trying out Granny Jones' recipe from episode seventeen of…" Miss Martian shook her head, "Never mind; sorry that they're ruined."

Barry shrugged and picked up what was supposed to be a cookie; he bit into it without a second thought, much to everyone else's amazement. He only shrugged again.

"I have a serious metabolism," he explained.

"I'll make more?" Miss Martian offered.

"It was nice of you to make any," Ken said.

"Thanks, Ken 10," Miss Martian replied.

"Hey, we're not on duty," Ken said back, "It's just Ken… not that anyone seems to remember that I have a superhero name anyway."

Miss Martian nodded uncertainly before moving to put things away. As she did so, Ken picked up a cookie; before trying to eat it, his eyes glowed blue, and he slowly put the cookie back down.

"What's wrong?" Superboy asked when he saw a mix of confusion and shock cross Ken's face.

"I tried to X-ray the cookie," Ken whispered so that Miss Martian, who was putting away some utensils, didn't hear, "I couldn't see through it."

Barry froze, the cookie in his hand halfway to his mouth; in an instant, he dashed to a trashcan, threw the possibly lead-lined cookie in, and ran back. Fortunately, Miss Martian didn't notice; she was eager to please, and to find out that her cookies had the same effect as lead wouldn't help her confidence.

"By the way, my name is Barry," the speedster said, covering for both himself and Ken, as well as trying to make a move on the Martian, "See, I already trust you with my secret identity… unlike Mister dark-glasses over there."

Jason rolled his eyes behind his shades. "Batman won't let me tell anyone details about myself until I've known them for a year _and_ he's checked their backgrounds… but you can call me Jason." He shrugged at the incredulous looks that Ken, Barry and Warhawk sent his way. "What? It's not like I gave her my social security number."

"Rex Stewart," Warhawk said succinctly, "It's not like I have much of a secret identity; I have wings, after all."

"Well, my name isn't a secret, either," Miss Martian said, "It's M'gann M'orzz… but you can call me Megan. It's an Earth name, and I'm on Earth now."

Superboy felt a brief pang of jealousy that he didn't have a name yet, but shrugged it off; he honestly didn't care _that_ much. He started to leave when he felt something brush up against his mind.

{Don't worry, Superboy,} M'gann said, {we'll find you an Earth name someday.}

Superboy clutched at his head and glared at the Martian. "Get out of my head!"

{What's wrong?} M'gann asked, this time broadcasting her thoughts to the rest of the group, {Everyone on Mars communicated telepathically.}

The others began shifting uncomfortably at the intrusion into their minds.

"M'gann, stop!" Ken said sternly; with relief, they all felt M'gann's presence leave their heads. "That's not how things are done on Earth; when someone puts their thoughts into another person's mind, it's the worst kind of breach in privacy."

"Besides," Barry stage-whispered as he pointed at Superboy, "Genesis' G-Gnomes left a bad taste in his brain."

"I-I'm sorry," M'gann stammered, "I didn't know…"

"Just stay out," Superboy growled, then stormed away.

Ken sighed. "I'll go talk to him."

After he left, M'gann looked depressed, but also curious. "Why did only Ken leave?"

Jason shrugged. "He's Superboy's cousin; they get along pretty well, and Supey actually listens to him."

Down the hall, Ken found the clone sitting on a couch, scowling at the floor; wordlessly, Ken sat next to him. Finally, Ken spoke.

"That was a little extreme," he said; Superboy looked about to object, but Ken started talking again. "I understand why you don't like anyone in your head; believe me, if someone had been trying to brainwash me into killing my dad, I'd hate to have a similar experience ever again. But you have to remember that M'gann doesn't know what happened to you; if she did, I could understand you yelling, but that isn't what happened. She knows now; a simple apology on your part will probably smooth things over."

Superboy didn't reply, but he did look less angry; Ken took that as a sign that he was getting through.

"Anyway, I understand if—wait, do you hear that?"

Superboy looked over to see Ken listening to something with his super-hearing; the clone extended his own senses.

"What is that?" he asked, hearing the same thing.

Ken smiled. "Come on, let's meet up with the others; there's one more introduction that needs to be made."

Curious, Superboy followed Ken as they caught up to the others; M'gann looked at the clone hopefully, but was ignored. Ken spoke a little louder than normal, if only to get her attention away from a semi-hostile Superboy.

"Everyone, remember when my dad said that we'd be getting a ride?" getting nods, he continued, "Well, he's here now; let's go say hi!"

Using his X-ray vision, Ken easily led the way through the unfamiliar base, until they reached the aircraft hangar; instead of an aircraft waiting on the launch pad, however, there was a small, slug-like creature with a white belly, black back with green circuitry over it, two stubby front legs and a single eye over its otherwise expressionless face.

Ken jogged up to the creature, where it jumped into his arms, wagging its rear like a tail.

"Ship, ship!" the creature cried.

"Hey, little buddy," Ken said, placing the creature on his shoulder, "I know, it's been forever, hasn't it?"

"Um, what is that?" Superboy asked.

"This is Ship," Ken said as he walked towards them, Ship still on his shoulder, "Say hi to the team, Ship!"

"Ship!" the little alien said, then jumped off of Ken and scurried towards M'gann, his rear wagging even more, "Ship, ship!"

"Oh, he's adorable!" M'gann squealed, lifting him up and holding him tightly; this reaction only made Ship like the Martian even more.

"Well, you've scored points with him," Ken said, "He loves it when girls call him that."

"His name is Ship?" Superboy asked, "Why Ship?"

"It's the only word he says, even if the meaning is different," Ken said, "Besides, what would you call him?"

Superboy shrugged; honestly, he couldn't come up with anything better. Barry, on the other hand, had an idea.

"Why not Sluggo?"

To this, Ship made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a raspberry.

"There's another reason, though," Ken said, "M'gann, could you put him down so that he can demonstrate?"

Reluctantly, the two aliens separated; Ship moved further away before jumping into the air. His body extended, then morphed into a boxy shape with wide wings, each of which had several large weapons underneath.

"Ship!" the alien cried in a much deeper voice.

Ken grinned at the amazed expressions on the others' faces; Barry found his voice first.

"Dude, that is the best pet ever!"

"I know, right?" Ken's grin never left his face. "So, who wants to go for a ride?"

Nobody said no.

…

"I'm going to say it again," Barry said, as he leaned back in the chair that Ship had morphed for him, "You have the best pet ever!"

"I'm just glad he's here; he was missing for almost two weeks," Ken said, his hands wrapped around the controls after Ship had given him control, "Speaking of which, what happened, buddy?"

"Ship, ship," the living vessel replied, though only Ken knew what he was saying; as such, when both his eyes and smile widened, it left everyone else confused.

"What did he say?" M'gann asked.

"Apparently, he was getting an upgrade," Ken took a second to snicker at his choice of words before continuing, "He now has a stealth-mode."

"Really?" Jason grinned, "Let's see it!"

"Ship, if you would be so kind?" Ken said.

The air outside of the windows shimmered for a moment; if they had been outside, they would have seen Ship completely vanish.

"Oh, that is cool!" Jason said, "It fits perfectly for a covert-ops team!"

"If that's the case," M'gann said nervously, "Then I guess I do, too."

"What, you can turn invisible?" Warhawk asked.

"Well, kind of," the Martian said, then seemingly vanished, leaving only a slight shimmer in the air, "It's Martian camouflage; not quite invisibility, but it's pretty close."

"You should compare notes with my sister," Ken said, "She can turn invisible too."

"You have a sister?" Superboy and M'gann said simultaneously as the latter became visible again.

"Oh, right, you haven't met her yet," Ken said, letting Ship fly them around the area on his own, "She's nice, has all the same Kryptonian powers as me, but with different Ultimatrix alien powers; invisibility is one of them."

"Will she be joining the team?" M'gann asked, then noticed Barry blanch. "Are you all right?"

Warhawk rolled his eyes. "Are you _still_ afraid of Jen?"

"No!" Barry said quickly, though Ken, Jason and Warhawk knew he was lying.

"Why is he afraid of your sister?" Superboy asked.

Ken laughed. "Well, to answer M'gann's question about Jen joining the team, it won't be for a while. As for your question, Superboy: remember that she's half Kryptonian. She's also eleven, and a hugger."

"A… hugger?" M'gann asked.

"She likes to hug," Jason said, "and she's eleven. Now, since eleven-year-olds still can't control their strength, and Jen first met Barry when she was nine…"

"She nearly broke Barry's spine," Warhawk said, laughing.

"Dudes!" Barry hissed, not wanting to get embarrassed in front of the pretty girl.

"Oh, I wish I had seen that," M'gann gushed, "That must have been so cute! Do you think I can read your mind to see that memory?"

That brought the conversation up short, and everyone spared a moment to glance at Superboy; the clone had a dark look in his eyes.

"Don't," was all he said.

For a moment, there was an awkward silence; thankfully, Jason was able to break it.

"So, other than invisibility, are there any other powers that you'd like to show us?"

M'gann nodded, eager to change the subject. She stood up and, after a moment of concentration, morphed into a female version of Jason in his Robin uniform.

"Hey, it's the Girl Wonder," Barry joked, only to get a punch in the arm from Jason.

M'gann then turned into a female Kid Flash; Barry had a goofy grin on his face.

"Is it wrong to think that I'm hot?" he asked.

"Yes!" Ken, Jason and Warhawk said in unison.

M'gann turned back into her normal form and sat back down, happy that she'd made a good impression.

"That was pretty impressive," Jason said, "But I don't think you'll be fooling anyone by turning into female versions of us."

"Mimicking boys is harder," M'gann admitted.

Jason shrugged, as Warhawk asked, "So, what else can you do? Intangibility?"

M'gann shook her head. "That's a very advanced technique; Uncle J'onn hasn't taught it to me yet."

Ken saw an opening for a question he'd been dying to ask. "Speaking of the Martian Manhunter, are you really his niece? It's just that, since he's married to my great-grandmother, I figured that I'd have seen you before."

M'gann looked uncomfortable at that. "Well, he's not _really _my uncle, he was just close to my family; I've always called him Uncle J'onn."

_Still doesn't explain how she's stayed alive after all this time, _Ken thought, then prayed that M'gann hadn't been reading his thoughts; since she didn't react, he could only assume that she wasn't.

He was pulled out of his musings by Ship, who brought up a holographic display. "Ship, what is this?"

"Ship, ship!"

The others saw Ken's eyes go wide again, but this time, it wasn't from excitement. "Hang on!"

Grabbing the controls again, Ken banked hard; only the safety restraints on their chairs prevented everyone from slamming into the side of Ship. Before anyone could protest, they saw a smoking object hurtle past them, heading towards the ground.

"What was that?" Barry asked, pointing at the trail of smoke left behind.

"Something just arrived from space," Ken said grimly, before turning to Jason, "Do you think you could hack NASA and see if a satellite fell out of orbit?"

Jason nodded, bringing up a holographic computer that was built into his watch; after a few seconds of typing, he shook his head.

"No reports of a falling satellite, official or otherwise," he said, "No reports of anything falling, actually."

"That's… suspicious," Warhawk said.

"The last time we looked into something suspicious, we ended up meeting Superboy," Barry pointed out.

"That was a good thing," Ken said, "Why don't we check it out?"

Everyone else looked at each other for a moment, then nodded.

Ken brought Ship in to land at the crash site, just a few miles outside of Happy Harbor, and they all hopped out; Ship remained as he was, in case his weapons were needed. The object that fell had left a large crater when it had landed, and any details about it were still obscured by smoke.

"That thing is probably red-hot," Ken said, "Superboy and I are the only ones who can get near it right now."

"Got it," Jason said, "I'll contact the Cave; maybe your dad or Red Tornado can give us some backup."

Ken nodded, and then he and Superboy slid down the side of the crater. At first, the object was still difficult to see; fortunately, a super-strength clap from Superboy created a powerful-enough shockwave that blasted the smoke clear.

The object in question turned out to be a pod similar to the one that had contained Superboy, but covered in a reinforced metal, probably meant to protect whatever was inside from just this kind of situation.

"Is this what you felt like when you found me in Genesis?" Superboy asked.

"Kind of," Ken said, "only less Genomorphs trying to eat my face."

"What's down there?" Barry asked loudly from his position at the lip of the crater.

"A pod," Ken called back, activating his X-ray vision to see what was inside, "I think there's someone inside of—okay, didn't expect that."

"What?" Jason asked, "What's inside?"

"It's a girl!" Superboy called out, using his own X-ray vision.

It was indeed a girl, and a beautiful one at that, but she certainly wasn't a _human_ girl; she wore a purple top, skirt, thigh-length boots and elbow-length, fingerless gloves. Most of the rest of her was covered by silver bands. The only parts of her orange skin that were visible was her face, which was eerily similar to a human's, and her fingers, while long, dark-red hair spilled down to her waist.

"Is she hot?" Barry asked, earning himself an elbow to his ribs from Jason.

"What about backup?" Ken asked, ignoring the speedster.

"I can't get through to anyone," Jason replied, "I don't know if it's radiation from the pod or if we're being jammed, but comms aren't working."

"Great…" Ken muttered.

"What do we do about her?" Superboy asked, pointing to the pod.

Ken shrugged. "We open it up, hope she can breathe in our atmosphere and that she doesn't punch me in the face, like when I met you."

Superboy only huffed, but he helped Ken rip open the metal, their Kryptonian endurance easily ignoring the heat from the pod's reentry. After a few seconds, they had worked their way to the final, transparent layer. As they did so, they noticed the alien stir; carefully, they removed the last layer, then waited for the girl to regain consciousness. It didn't take long; her eyes fluttered open, revealing them to be a solid green in color. She looked around for a moment, confused, before she focused on Ken. He smiled in a reassuring way and slowly approached her.

"Hi there," he said softly, "My name is Ken; don't worry, you're sa—OW!"

The alien had moved almost as fast as Ken could, her fist colliding with his face; the impact sent him fifteen feet into the air, and he landed heavily next to M'gann.

"Oh, for crying out loud," he muttered, holding his now-shattered glasses, "Next time we meet an alien in a pod, someone else gets to open it up, because I'm tired of getting hit in the face."

Back in the crater, Superboy was trying to stop the alien girl, though if he was being honest with himself, he wasn't sure if he wanted to stop her or smash her. She had just punched his cousin, the first person to show him any real kindness, so he wasn't feeling particularly charitable.

"I should probably say that I'm sorry when I hurt you," the clone said, "But that would be a lie."

"_Zhu vin sorn," _the girl said; though Superboy didn't understand her language, the threatening tone in her voice still came across.

The alien crouched slightly as Superboy threw a punch; the clone had expected her to leap to the side or duck, but instead, she jumped ten feet into the air and stayed there.

"Oh, great," Superboy growled, "she can fly."

The girl floated down to land in front of the other heroes; Ken got to his feet, the punch not hurting him as much as stunning him. A moment later, Superboy jumped out of the crater, a vengeful look in his eyes.

"Now what do we do?" Barry asked tensely.

"She's strong," Ken said, "Fast, too; she's almost as fast as I am."

"And she can fly," Jason noted.

The alien girl took a step forward, then moved her arm back, as if to throw something; in her hand, a glowing sphere of green energy appeared!

"And she can do that," Warhawk deadpanned, as the girl threw the sphere, "Scatter!"

M'gann and Warhawk took to the air, while Ken, Superboy and Barry dove to the sides, the energy-bolt landing just behind where they had been, leaving a fist-sized crater; Jason, however, rolled forward, turning said roll into a scissor-kick. The alien caught Jason's foot and flipped him into the air in a single, fluid motion; as he came back down, she caught him in an iron grip, her hands clenching shut on his shoulders. Her green eyes, now glowing, narrowed.

"Jason!" Ken cried out; everyone knew that if they tried to interfere, this alien would kill Jason instantly. Ship, who had been about to open fire, powered down his weapons; he couldn't risk hitting Jason.

However, instead of killing him, the alien did something quite different; she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.

"Dude, I think I know the way I want to die," Barry said, torn between worry for his friend, and jealousy.

The kiss lasted for a few more seconds, and then Jason was thrown to the ground. The alien opened her mouth to speak, but this time, it was in English!

"If you wish not to be destroyed," she said, "you will leave me alone!"

With that, she lifted into the air and flew off, leaving the six heroes confused.

"What just happened?" M'gann asked, voicing the question that they all had.

Before anyone could answer, a large tornado—moving _parallel_ to the ground—hit them from behind and sent them sprawling. They got to their feet and turned to their assailant; it was a robot, or someone in a mechanical suit. Said suit was red with black highlights, easily ten feet tall, with oversized hands and a brown, ragged scarf wrapped around the neck and lower jaw of the robot, and large, blue cables were attached to the arms, and ended at a large, backpack-like device on the back.

"_I can tell you what just happened,"_ the thing said in a dangerous tone, _"You have interfered in my business. For that, you shall die."_

"For crying out loud," Ken groaned, "Who are you, and why do you look like Red Tornado on steroids?"

"_Oh, I am far superior to that android," _the mechanical being scoffed, _"and you may call me Mister Twister. Now, if you children will excuse me, I must be on my way; that alien won't capture herself."_

"Right," Jason said, slowly reaching under his hoodie, "Because you seem the helpful type."

"M'gann," Ken whispered, "can you read his mind? What's he planning for that girl?"

"I thought I wasn't supposed to read minds!" M'gann whispered back.

"It's okay when it's the bad guys!"

M'gann nodded and gave Mister Twister a hard stare; a moment later, she blinked in shock.

"I can't read his mind! It's like there's nothing there!"

"Guess that means that we'll just have to beat the info out of him!" Jason said with a grim smile, whipping out his utility belt and slinging it around himself like a bandolier.

"You brought your utility belt?" Warhawk asked incredulously.

"Never leave home without it," Jason said, pulling out an explosive disk, "First thing Batman taught me!"

"Yeah, right after 'never go to the bathroom without it'," Barry snarked, then glanced in the direction the alien girl had gone, "What do we do about her?"

"First things first," Ken said, sending a wave of fire at Mister Twister, but a tornado from the villain's hand dispelled it.

"_I must say," _Mister Twister said, _"I was hoping to fight a _real_ hero. I don't want to kill children. It would be… disturbing."_

"Sorry you're so disturbed," Jason said, throwing his explosive, "Maybe you'll be a bit more _turbed_ after we kick your can!"

Superboy jumped the twenty feet separating him and Mister Twister, but another tornado sent him flying into Warhawk. The two hit the ground with a thud. Twister moved to finish them off, but was forced to fly into the air when M'gann lifted several boulders with her telekinesis and threw them at him.

"Okay, we may have a problem," Ken said, "We need to tell the League about this."

"Do you have a plan?" Barry said, trying to counter Twister's tornadoes with one of his own when he rapidly spun his arm around.

"Actually, I do," Ken said, "Robin, Miss Martian: take Ship and go after the alien. While you're doing that, see if you can contact the Cave, get some help, intel, anything; we'll keep this guy occupied until then."

"_I will not let you deny me of my prize!" _Twister roared, but was knocked back when Ken hit him in the face with a blast of Mana.

"Hurry!" Ken yelled, "We don't know if this guy has friends!"

Nodding, Jason and M'gann boarded Ship, who sent a parting shot at Twister, in the form of several rockets, before flying off in the direction of the alien. Now Ken, Warhawk, Barry and Superboy were squared off against Twister, who had steadied himself.

"_You called me Red Tornado on steroids," _Twister said, raising his hands to the sky, _"Let me show you how I'm not only more powerful than that android, I completely outclass him!"_

In the sky above, dark clouds gathered, rain began to fall, and lightning struck near them. The four heroes glanced at each other, the same though going through their minds.

This was bad.

…

"How close is she?" Jason asked Ship as they flew towards Happy Harbor.

"Ship, ship," Ship replied.

"I don't understand what you're saying!" Jason said, exasperated.

"Maybe I can help?" M'gann offered; Jason glanced at her warily for a moment. "Please, just trust me." After he nodded, M'gann's eyes glowed green for a moment. "Try asking him now."

"Okay," Jason said slowly, then turned to Ship's controls, "Can you tell me where she is?"

"Ship, ship."

"H-hey!" Jason jerked back in his seat, "I understood that!"

"I imprinted his, uh, language into your mind," M'gann explained.

"Well, that's one problem solved," Jason said, but after a moment, he frowned again. "Still can't reach the Cave or the League; this storm is messing with the comms."

"I guess we're on our own then," M'gann said nervously.

Ship touched down just outside of an alley and opened up, allowing Jason and M'gann out. The Martian used her telepathy to detect the alien girl's thoughts, and the two followed the trail to the back of the alley, where they found her sitting on top of a dumpster, her arms wrapped around her legs. At the sound of their footsteps, she looked up; neither Jason nor M'gann failed to notice the tears falling down her face.

"Hey," Jason said gently, holding his hands out in what he hoped was a peaceful gesture for her people, "Remember me? I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

The alien girl sniffed. "You cannot hurt me any more than I am already."

Jason and M'gann glanced at each other, confused.

"What do you mean?" M'gann asked.

"I am alone."

"Sorry, gonna need a little more than that," Jason said.

"I am… the last…" the girl sniffed, holding back more tears, "I am the last Tamaranean."

"Is that the name of your people?" M'gann asked gently, "Can you tell us where you're from?"

"The planet of Tamaran," the girl said, "I was captured by Gordanian slavers, then forced to watch as they… they destroyed…"

The memories overwhelmed her, and she broke down in tears. Unable to help herself, M'gann wrapped the other alien in a hug, gently rocking her back and forth.

"Shh," she said, "It's all right, just let it out… you're not alone anymore. I know how you feel."

"How!?" the alien demanded, pulling away, "How could you possibly know what it is like, being the last of your kind!?"

"Because I am," M'gann said solemnly, "My uncle and I are the only Martians left, and Superman and Supergirl are the last of their people as well, but I… I know what it's like for it to be sudden.

"When Mars was attacked," M'gann said, her eyes downcast as she relived the memories, "We were completely unprepared. My parents… they placed me in a stasis-pod in a hidden bunker until the war was over. I woke up a thousand years later, and everyone I knew was gone. I thought I was going to die of starvation, but a week later, my uncle heard my telepathic cry for help, and he came to rescue me. After that, I found out what had happened… and how alone I was."

"Everyone we know has lost someone," Jason added, a few feet away from them, "We can all relate to you somehow."

{Ken asked me about this, but I couldn't tell him,} M'gann said telepathically to Jason, {and I don't want to say this twice; could you tell him?}

{Sure,} Jason replied, not minding the unasked-for telepathy this time, {No problem.}

The girl looked at both of them and sniffed back a few more tears. "T-thank you. I believe I must bring apology to you and the others before; I did not want to harm anyone."

"You were in a strange place with strange people, totally understandable," Jason reasoned, then frowned, "Though there's one thing that confuses me: why did you kiss me?"

The alien tilted her head. "Among my people, it is a way to understand languages. Why, is it different on this world?"

"Yes. Yes it is." Jason's face betrayed no emotion.

Hesitantly, the alien girl looked at M'gann, who shook her head. "Don't look at me, I've been on this planet for two months."

For a moment, the alien said nothing, lost in thought.

"What do I do now?"

Jason shrugged. "That's up to you. There are a lot of people in the Justice League who can help you, but what you do with your life is up to you."

She nodded, smiling. "Thank you."

The somewhat optimistic mood was broken when a small, slug-like creature came hurrying towards them.

"Ship, ship!"

"What is that?" the alien asked.

"That's Ship," Jason said, not really explaining anything, and turning to Ship, "What's going on?"

"Ship, ship!"

"Oh, crud," Jason said, as Ship's words translated in his head, "We still need to help the others!"

M'gann smacked her forehead. "Hel_lo_, Megan! How could we forget?"

"Please, wait," the alien girl said as M'gann and Jason started to follow Ship out of the alley, "May I assist you?"

"Can you fight?" Jason asked.

The girl nodded. "The people of Tamaran are… were… warriors; I would like to aid you."

"That's wonderful!" M'gann said, smiling, "But, um, we don't even know your name."

"My name is Koriand'r," the girl replied, "In your language, it would mean 'star' and 'fire'."

"Well then, Starfire," Jason said with a grin, "would you like to help us beat down a bad guy?"

Starfire nodded, smiling back. "With pleasure!"

…

For the umpteenth time since the fight began, Superboy was hurled into the ground. The clone would jump fifty feet into the air, with the intention of slamming into Mister Twister, but the villain would see the attack coming and deflect Superboy with a tornado.

The others were also hard-pressed; Barry tried to counter Twister's twisters with his own, but he hadn't quite mastered that ability yet, and his tornados weren't as strong as the villain's. Warhawk had to remain on the ground; his armor and the fact that he preferred higher-altitude strikes left him vulnerable to the lightning that Mister Twister summoned. In order to keep his friends safe from the lightning, Ken levitated himself up with a platform of Mana, acting as a lightning rod. While he could absorb the lightning, his own attacks were either deflected by tornados or dodged entirely.

_This isn't working, _Ken thought, _we need more people in the air to hit him on all sides._

"We could use some backup!" Barry said, unknowingly voicing Ken's thoughts.

"_Bring all the backup you want; if it's more children, it won't be enough," _Mister Twister boasted, _"I won't be satisfied until I face a _real _hero. Where's Red Tornado? I know he's here, somewhere."_

He was finally shut up when a bolt of green energy struck him in the back of his head. Warhawk looked up at Ken and gave him a wave.

"Nice shot!"

Ken shook his head. "It wasn't me."

"Then who…" Barry began to ask, when a purple-clad blur slammed into Mister Twister, moving so fast that he had no way to counter it.

The blur slowed down, then hovered in place, revealing itself to be the alien girl from before!

"What is she doing here?" Superboy asked, still annoyed with her, but seemed willing to hear her out when she floated to ground-level.

"I apologize for my actions before," she said, bowing her head at Ken, then Superboy, "I wish to assist you now."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Warhawk asked.

{She is telling the truth,} M'gann's voice echoed in their minds, {Robin and I talked to her, and she's willing to help!}

"What did we tell you!?" Superboy yelled, fury being his knee-jerk reaction to telepathy.

{I know, I know!} M'gann said, {But Robin, Ship and I are too far away to talk normally right now, and we needed to make sure that you didn't attack Starfire by accident! Please, just trust me!}

Ken nodded. {Okay, I trust you.} Turning to the new arrival, he asked, "So, Starfire, you ready for a fight?"

Energy glowed around Starfire's fists in response. "Yes. Let us kick the butt!"

Ken opened his mouth, launching a blast of lightning at Twister, who had just stabilized; the electricity hit him dead-on, sending him hurtling to the ground. Before he hit, Barry ran underneath him and ran in a tight circle, creating a tornado of his own, buffeting the villain and sending him back into the air; while he had trouble creating twisters with his arms, this way was easy.

Disoriented, Twister was wide open for a vicious uppercut from Warhawk, sending him even higher; the Thanagarian flew away just as a barrage of missiles from Ship, who had just arrived. Jason hopped out and threw a pair of explosive disks, doing more damage to Twister. Before the villain hit the ground, he was caught by M'gann's telekinesis. Starfire flew over to his right side, while Superboy jumped onto his back; the two aliens grinned at each other as they each grabbed one of Twister's arms and pulled, ripping the mechanical limbs off. Superboy jumped and Starfire flew away as Mister Twister collapsed to his knees. With a hiss of hydraulics, Twister's chest opened up and a small man wearing a yellow jumpsuit fell out.

"F-foul," the man whined, as the teens surrounded him, "I c-call foul."

M'gann smirked as she used her telekinesis to raise a boulder over the man; Ken's eyes widened as he ran forward.

"M'gann, no!"

He was too late; M'gann dropped the boulder, crushing the man. Furious, Jason grabbed the Martian's shoulder.

"I don't know how things were done on Mars," he growled, "but on Earth, we don't execute our captives!"

"I thought you trusted me?" M'gann said, still smirking; she lifted the boulder, revealing the squashed remains of a robot. "I couldn't read his mind, which meant that he was inorganic; not alive!"

"Yo, dog," Barry whispered to Warhawk, as he gestured to the crushed robot, "I heard you like robots, so I put a robot in—ouch!"

"That joke is old," Warhawk said, after smacking Barry upside the head; the speedster grinned unrepentantly as he knelt down to pick up one of the robot's eyes.

"Cool, a souvenir!" he said, holding the eye.

Ken put his hand on M'gann's shoulder. "We should have had more faith in you. Sorry about that."

"Yeah," Barry added, "you 'rocked' this mission! Get it? Rocked?"

Starfire tilted her head. "He is… not very funny."

Warhawk smiled. "I think we're going to get along great."

"Ignore Barry and his bad puns," Jason said to M'gann, "We're all just turbed that you're on the team."

"So, what do we do about her?" Superboy said, gesturing with his chin at Starfire.

"I think it's out of our hands," Ken said, pointing; headed their way was Red Tornado and Ben, transformed into Chromastone.

"You guys," the latter said in mock-exasperation, "I can't let you out of my sight for five minutes and you go cause trouble."

…

**Unknown Location**

"Now, Brom," a man with graying hair and a white lab coat said to another man, identical to the robot who had been piloting Mister Twister, "Aren't you relieved I didn't let _you _wear the armor?"

"Extremely, Professor," Brom said, "But you aren't upset?"

The man known as T.O. Morrow shrugged.

"While helping my… associates… with the alien's retrieval was the catalyst for the resources, the test for our tracking system went perfectly. I'm convinced that Red Tornado was nearby; if those children hadn't been in the area, I'm sure that we would have found him. Besides, you know that science advances in fits and starts. Even failure can be instructive… and I'd say we learned quite a lot today."

…

**Mount Justice, 20:32 EDT**

After Mister Twister had been defeated, members of the Justice League had arrived to assess the situation. They gathered the android's remains and shipped it to the Cave, while the Martian Manhunter had offered to house Koriand'r and teach her about life on Earth. She accepted, but only after M'gann promised to visit often; the two girls had bonded over shared grief, and were already friends, though the Tamaranean had also expressed a desire to see the other members of the team as well.

Speaking of M'gann, she shared Koriand'r's story with the League, while Jason told Ken and the others what had happened to M'gann. Ken felt awful for bringing it up earlier, and resolved to make it up to her.

After J'onn had escorted Koriand'r out of the Cave, the team had been debriefed by Batman and were then brought to a table, where the Mister Twister armor and the android inside of it were being dissected by the Atom, Grey Matter and Red Tornado.

"Well, this is disturbing," Atom said, stepping away from the remains, "It would seem that this armor was not only based of Red Tornado's design, but also contained several methods of overriding another android's programming."

"And since the League only has one android member," Ken said, looking at Red Tornado, "I guess that it was meant to take you out, or turn you against the League."

"_Agreed," _the android said, _"It is fortunate that you were able to stop my would-be saboteur; the damage that I could have done would have been considerable."_

"You not only took the bad guy down, but you also helped that girl," Grey Matter said, before transforming back into Ben, "You guys did great."

The teens shared a grin, but Superboy shook his head.

"We only fought Twister," the clone said, "Jason and… and M'gann got Koriand'r to trust us."

Behind him, M'gann beamed at the praise.

Batman nodded at Superboy's words. "You all did well. Now, head home, all of you; as soon as the details come in, you'll be sent on a mission soon."

"Sweet!" Barry high-fived Jason, "Our team's first mission!"

As the teens headed to the teleporters to head home—save for Superboy, who was staying at the Cave for the conceivable future—Jason said something that had been on his mind for a while.

"I think our team needs a name; we need something that would fit a covert-ops group."

"What about just 'the Team'?" Superboy asked.

"He's got a point," Ken said, "If we're doing stealth stuff, we can't go advertising who we are; kinda defeats the purpose of being covert."

"Any objections?" Warhawk asked, as he punched in the coordinates on the teleporter, "No? Then I guess we're the Team."

"Could be worse," Barry said, just as he began to disappear in a flash of light, "We could have been called the Junior Justice League."

"Yeah," Jason laughed, "or Young Justice; what kind of name is that?"

Soon, the last one to leave was M'gann; just before Superboy activated the teleporter for her, he spoke.

"About before…" he said, not looking her in the eye, "I'm sorry."

As she disappeared, M'gann had a huge smile on her face.

**Not gonna lie, this chapter was hard to write. I wanted to keep parts of the canon material, but also wanted changes. Big changes. Changing one of the reasons for Mister Twister being there, and adding Starfire…**

**Speaking of Starfire, she won't show up in the next chapter (she did just arrive on Earth, after all) but she will show up soon, I promise.**

**Before anyone gets mad, I have nothing against the name Young Justice, but if I were a teenage superhero, I wouldn't want to be part of a team that announces that I'm young. Besides, like Ken said, it's better to have a simple name that isn't advertised, like Justice League.**

**One more thing: When the heroes aren't in their costumes (or don't have names yet, like Superboy) they'll go by their civilian names.**

**Don't make me angry; I make muffins when I'm angry.**


	5. Drop Zone

**BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. YOUNG JUSTICE DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. IF THE LATTER DID, I'D HAVE CHANGED THAT STUPID, STUPID CLIFFHANGER OF AN ENDING THAT WAS THE END OF SEASON 2.**

**Well, I'm back to this story, guys! After my last chapter of Outcast Blades, I need to give my attention to something that isn't so freakin' depressing. So now, here's a chapter with drugs and a cult!**

**Great, now that's depressing, too… I'm going to go play with a puppy or something…**

Unlimited Justice, Part 1

Chapter 4

Drop Zone

**Santa Prisca, June 19, 00:43 ECT**

The main structure on the remote jungle island was a factory, a laboratory and a fortress, all at once. In most rooms, chemicals bubbled and churned, ready to be mixed; in other rooms, crates of finished product waited to be shipped out.

The island had been the base of operations for the criminal Bane for many years, and was defended by his own private army. Bane, an accomplished and intelligent fighter, had trained his men well, and could fight against professional soldiers; it came as a shock, therefore, when a small army of men and women, armed with state-of-the-art weapons and garbed in red and black, stormed the island and captured it in a day.

The factory had been overrun, while Bane, his lieutenants and most of his men were captured; only a few scattered elements of Bane's forces remained active, but everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before they were caught or killed.

Inside the factory, Bane and his officers were being escorted by dozens of troops. His officers had their hands on their heads, but Bane did not; he had too much pride for that. The giant of a man scowled behind his black-and-white wrestler's mask as one of the invaders approached him.

"_Our sublime Master proclaims that he will depart this facility," _the man said in Spanish, _"If… one of you defeats his champion, Mammoth, in single combat."_

Bane stepped forward and followed the man without a word, accepting the challenge. He was led to a large, empty room, which served as an arena of sorts.

"_Just make it interesting," _Bane said in Spanish, before entering; the man only smirked as Bane left.

On the other side of the arena, a door opened, and Bane's eyes narrowed as a short, scrawny man entered. Bane couldn't believe that this was his opponent—this was Mammoth? The man barely came up to Bane's chest, and Bane wasn't even using his Venom yet—not that he could, since his injector had been taken from him when his island had been captured.

A clatter from behind him made him turn; the man from before had tossed in that same injector at his feet. Bane picked it up and looked at the man curiously.

"_You would give me back my greatest weapon?"_ he asked skeptically, _"What's the catch?"_

"_No catch," _the other man said honestly, _"It would hardly test his champion's prowess if you were not at your best."_

Bane glanced back at his would-be opponent; he seriously doubted that the little man would even scratch him without the Venom, but Bane wasn't one to question good fortune.

"_You want my best?" _Bane asked, as he attached the main part of the device to his wrist, and the end of the long tube to the base of his skull.

Activating his injector, a red fluid flowed into his head. His pupils dilated, and his muscles, already bulging, were now just shy of breaking through his tight-fitting shirt and combat pants, and he actually grew several inches.

Bane took a deep breath. _"You got it."_

The enhanced man cracked the tendons in his neck, as a woman with fiery red hair and a snake-like mask tattooed on the right side of her scalp entered the arena on his opponent's side and injected a purple liquid into the scrawny man's arm.

Almost immediately, the man started to convulse and scream in agony. His body bulged and twisted in unnatural angles, his canines became more fang-like, and his skin browned and split in places, revealing the muscle underneath. After a few seconds of this, the creature stood, now towering over even the enhanced Bane; he stared at the masked man, took in a deep breath, and charged.

Bane barely had the chance to prepare himself, Mammoth was so fast. A mutated arm struck downward, and Bane was forced to use both arms to block; even then, he was pushed back several feet. Bane wouldn't take that lying down, however; he ducked under the next blow, then punched Mammoth in the face, then the chest. To his shock, the blows barely irritated the monster.

Mammoth grabbed Bane by the back of the neck with on giant hand, and drove the other into his stomach; before he could even fall to the ground in pain, Bane was hurled into the nearest wall, where he collapsed in a heap. Not content with that, the creature lunged forward and began pounding Bane over and over; when the dust cleared, Bane was lying in a crater, a trickle of blood coming out of his mouth. Bane's men, who had watched the fight, could see that their leader was still alive, but he had lost… badly.

The man who had given Bane his injector smiled and spoke in English. "Hail Kobra. Hail Kobra. Hail Kobra!"

"Hail Kobra!" the other cultists chanted, "Hail Kobra! Hail Kobra!"

As the chanting continued, a tall, muscled man watched from the shadows, his arms crossed over his bare, pale-skinned chest. Kobra basked in his cult's adoration for a little longer, before reminding himself that he still had a task to perform.

…

**Mount Justice, July 22, 17:07 EDT**

Ken 10, Robin, Kid Flash, Warhawk, Superboy and Miss Martian gathered in the Cave's briefing room, excited to be getting their first mission. Waiting for them was Batman, Superman and Ben, standing in front of a holographic map of an island.

Batman wasted no time getting started. "Isla Santa Prisca; this island is the primary source of a dangerous and illegal neo-steroid—a strength-enhancing drug that is called Venom. Infrared heat-signatures show that the factory is still operating at full capacity, but all shipments of Venom have been inexplicably cut off."

"That's where the Team comes in," Ben said, taking over, "It's a covert recon mission, and that's it; you go in, observe, and then report what you find."

"You won't be doing any fighting," Superman said, "If the Justice League needs to intervene, it will."

"Um, I have a question," Kid Flash said, raising his hand, "Isn't Starfire going with us?"

"Koriand'r has been on this planet for less than a week," Batman said, leveling his gaze at the speedster, "She has to acclimate to being on Earth before she even considers being a hero; she may just want to live a normal life."

Chastised, Kid Flash took a step back with a lowered head. Batman turned his attention back to the map.

"The plan requires two drop zones…"

"Great," Robin interrupted, "but who's in charge?"

Batman, Superman and Ben looked at each other for a moment, before Ben spoke.

"That's something _you_ need to decide."

…

**Santa Prisca, July 22, 20:08 ECT**

"We're approaching Santa Prisca," Warhawk announced from his spot inside of Ship, who had cloaked.

Ken checked Ship's sensors. "Drop zone A in thirty seconds; you're up, Warhawk."

Warhawk nodded and got out of his seat; Ship opened the rear hatch, and Warhawk jumped out, his wings held tightly to his back. At the last second, right before he hit the ocean, he spread his wings and began flying towards the island, staying below the radar, and his armor hid his heat-signature. Ship and the rest of the Team waited until Warhawk landed on the beach, where he approached a large missile battery; he placed a small disk onto it, then waited a few seconds until the disk began to blink with a green light.

"Heat and motion sensors are hacked," he said into his communicator, "They're now on a continuous loop; it's safe to move in."

He glanced up to see the slight blur that was Ship in stealth-mode fly overhead towards the second drop zone; spreading his wings, Warhawk flew into the air after the rest of the Team.

…

"We're in position," Ken said, checking the instruments, "Ship, once we're on the ground, fall back; if we need to get out fast, you're the only one who can get us all off the island."

"Ship, ship," Ship replied.

"Everyone else," Ken said, "it's time for our own stealth-mode."

After they had been told that they would be doing a lot of missions that would require stealth, or at least be at night, Batman and Superman had presented the members of the Team with new outfits. For Ken, Superboy and Robin, their outfits looked the same, but were now made of a durable, self-repairing Kryptonian nanotech; Kid Flash's costume was made of the same material, but now had slightly thickened shoulder pads. Warhawk had declined any sort of addition to his armor, since it was already black-and-gray, and Miss Martian said that she didn't need it.

Ken tapped the 10 on the left side of his jacket; his jacket turned black, as did his jeans, while the 10 on the jacket turned a dark-gray.

Kid Flash tapped the lightning-bolt icon on his chest, and the top his costume turned dark-gray, while his pants, gloves and boots turned black, save for the red lightning-bolts on his chest and the sides of his head.

Robin didn't need any sort of stealth-tech; he'd learned how to disappear without it.

"How cool is this?" Kid Flash asked Miss Martian.

"Very impressive," she replied, before morphing her white-and-blue outfit into a black bodysuit; the red X on her chest was joined by a red belt, and her blue cape became a darker shade, and had an added hood.

"Uh, that works too," Kid Flash said, trying not to drool at the formfitting suit, then turned to Superboy, "Hey, Supey, it's not too late to put on the new stealth-tech!"

Superboy crossed his arms over his chest. "No capes, no tights… no offense."

When Superman had offered his clone an outfit like his, Superboy had declined; his argument had been that if Ken didn't need to wear tights, he didn't either. His outfit didn't really need the stealth-mode, since it was already black and dark-blue.

"It totally works for you," Miss Martian said, staring dreamily at Superboy, who raised an eyebrow at her, causing her to quickly say, "In th-that you can _totally _do good work in those clothes."

Superboy shrugged at the comment, while Miss Martian pulled her hood over her face in embarrassment and went into camouflage-mode. Ken held back a snicker; the Martian was crushing _hard_ on his cousin, but the clone probably didn't even know it yet.

"Ship," Ken said, "descent-lines, please, and open the floor."

"Ship, ship," several lines grew out of the ceiling, and a hole appeared in the floor; Ken, Robin and Kid Flash attached the lines to their belts and slid silently to the jungle floor, while Miss Martian simply levitated herself down. They had just detached the lines before they dived out of the way to avoid getting crushed by the falling Superboy.

"Knew I didn't need a line," the clone said with a smile, as he climbed out of the newly-formed crater.

"And yet, creating a seismic event may not have helped us with the covert," Robin growled, just as Warhawk flew in, and Ship flew away.

"What was that noise?" Warhawk asked, "Did a bomb go off?"

"Yeah, a bomb called Superboy," Robin said, still glaring at the clone.

"Knock it off," Ken said, "We don't have time for that; yeah, we were lucky that no one heard that, so don't do it again, Superboy."

Both Superboy and Robin nodded, first at Ken, then at each other in an unspoken apology.

"Hey, why didn't either of you just levitate us down?" Kid Flash asked, looking at Ken and Miss Martian.

"Using my telekinesis on everyone would be really hard," Miss Martian explained.

"And my Mana glows green," Ken said, then nodded at Robin, "Also not good for the covert."

"Now that that's settled," Warhawk said, "We should get moving."

"Right," Robin brought up his holo-map and activated the GPS, "The factory isn't too far; let's go."

The Team moved out, staying silent, which gave Ken some time to think. He was slightly worried; this was the Team's first official mission, and they still hadn't elected a leader. When his father had said for them to work it out for themselves, Robin had began to smile; Ken thought he knew why—as the protégé of Batman, who was seen by many as one of the leaders of the League, Robin may have thought that that made him the leader of the Team. The only problem was that, in all the times Ken had worked with Robin, the Boy Wonder had never given orders; he had either remained silent or had taunted the bad guys.

Ken also had reservations about the others as leader. Kid Flash was smart, but he was also impulsive; the only thing he was ever truly serious about was science.

Superboy was just too angry; even if he wanted to be in charge, which he didn't, his plans would probably be along the lines of 'hit them until they stop trying to hit you'.

Miss Martian was too timid for the most part, as well as fairly naïve. Ken wasn't sure if that was because she hadn't been on Earth for very long, or if that was just how she was.

Warhawk would be a good choice; he was disciplined and responsible. The only problem was that he was also very aggressive in a fight and, like Superboy never came up with any strategies beyond just hitting the bad guys. Ken thought that if the Team had to split up, Warhawk could be in command of one group, but he was unsure if he was willing to take command of the whole Team.

As for himself, if Ken was being honest, he didn't want the job; he never saw any leadership potential in himself, nor did he want the responsibility. He was content with doing what needed to be done, and giving orders had never been a part of that plan.

A distant sound, made louder thanks to his super-hearing, brought Ken back to the present.

"Did you hear that?" he and Superboy said at the same time; the others froze.

"Uh, no," Kid Flash said, "Wait, is this a super-hearing thing?"

"You _do_ have great ears," Miss Martian said dreamily, staring at Superboy.

"Well, now what do we do? Robin?" Kid Flash asked, but the Boy Wonder was nowhere to be found. "I hate it when he does the ninja-thing."

"We can't see anything," Warhawk whispered.

"Right," Ken said, "KF, Superboy, we're switching to infrared."

The eyes of both Superboy and Ken glowed for a moment, while Kid Flash pulled his specialized goggles over his eyes. The speedster pointed off to the right.

"Got a squad of armed bozos incoming."

The Team, minus Robin, took cover behind some rocks. Superboy pointed to the left.

"Two squads," he corrected, "but they'll meet each other before they find us."

"Huh, that's odd," Ken commented, "one squad looks kind of ragtag, but the other looks way too organized and well-equipped. What's the deal—"

The sound of gunfire interrupted him; the two squads had opened fire on each other!

"Guess we don't need super-hearing _now_," Kid Flash said.

"We don't want to get involved," Warhawk said, "Let's just avoid them."

"Sure, sure," Kid Flash said dismissively, "as soon as I find Robin."

Before anyone could stop him, the speedster raced off. He tried to avoid the combat, but he slipped on a patch of mud and rolled down the hill, right between the two groups, who froze, uncertain what to do with a superhero's arrival. Kid Flash looked up into the eyes of Bane, the leader of one group.

"So much for the stealthy," he said to himself, nervously.

Bane scowled, then pointed his assault rifle at Kid Flash and fired; thankfully, he was fast enough to dodge the bullets, but found himself getting boxed in when Bane's men and the other squad added their own fire. Kid Flash knew it was only a matter of time before he got hit.

Thankfully, Bane was stopped when Superboy jumped in and punched him. The criminal rolled with the blow, then used Superboy's own momentum to knock him down. Even so, Superboy was able to overpower Bane's leverage with brute strength and hurl him into a tree.

Kid Flash was still dodging bullets when Robin jumped between two of his assailants and knocked them out with quick blows to the head.

"What is wrong with you guys!?" Robin demanded, as he punched another man in the gut, then drove his knee into his opponent's nose. "What happened to covert? Why didn't you follow my lead and vanish into the jungle?"

"That's what you were doing!?" Kid Flash asked, even as he overwhelmed another man with a flurry of super-fast blows. "Way to fill us in; we're not mind-readers, you know!" he turned his head, just as two men from the second squad, who were wearing black clothes and long, red coats, were hurled into a tree by Miss Martian's telekinesis. "Well, _I'm_ not."

"You told me I could only read the bad guys' minds!" Miss Martian protested.

Ken and Warhawk were just finishing up with the red-garbed squad, their enemies' bullets deflecting off of the latter's armor and the former's bulletproof skin, allowing the heroes to take them down at their leisure.

Once the fighting was over, the bad guys were tied up to a pair of large trees; the two groups had been separated, in case one group still wanted to kill the other.

"I recognize those uniforms," Robin said, gesturing to the red coats and black masks, "They belong to the Cult of the Kobra!"

While Ken had never met the villain personally, he knew about him: Kobra was incredibly dangerous, believing that he could get away with anything because he was a god in human form. Considering that he had spent years without being stopped by the Justice League, it wasn't hard to see why he had an army of followers.

"I'm pretty sure Batman would have told us if that psycho was on the island," Ken said, "much less messing with the Venom operations."

"Agreed," Robin said, "and there's clearly no love lost between the cultists and Bane's guys; I'm betting Kobra came in and tossed 'em out!"

"That's why the supplies were cut off," Warhawk added.

"Okay, we get it," Kid Flash said, "Kobra wanted super-cultists, mystery solved; radio Bats and let's go home!"

Ken frowned; something was bothering him. He knelt down in front of one of the unconscious cultists and removed his mask. He checked for all the signs of Venom use—enhanced muscle mass, dilated pupils—but there was no change.

"These cultists aren't on Venom," he said, "and since there haven't been any shipments off the island, Kobra must be hoarding the stuff… but why?"

"We can't leave," Robin said, "Not until I know why."

"Until _you_ know why?" Kid Flash asked.

"This team needs a leader!"

"And it's you?" Kid Flash shook his head. "Dude, you ducked out on us without a word; what kind of leader leaves his team behind?"

While the two argued, Miss Martian turned to Superboy. "Don't you want to lead?"

Superboy snorted and shook his head. "What about you?"

"I don't have what it takes," she replied, "I found that out after the fight with Mister Twister."

"You did all right," Superboy said with a small smile, causing Miss Martian to blush. Superboy's attention was diverted, however, when his super-hearing picked up whispering from one of Bane's men. The clone glanced at Ken, who nodded; he was listening too.

"_Look at them argue!" _the goon said in Spanish, _"Free yourself and take them while they're distracted!"_

"_Quiet!" _Bane hissed in the same language, _"For now, I play along; they'll give me what I need."_

Superboy and Ken shared a small smirk; the criminals thought they were being clever, but Superboy had been taught Spanish, along with several other languages, by the G-Gnomes of Genesis, and Ken had taken enough classes in school to be fluent. They both knew that Bane was going to be doing something in order to be freed, and would then betray them; the only thing missing was how he was going to do it.

Bane's opportunity came when Robin and Kid Flash, still arguing, came near; the villain began to laugh.

"Such clever _niño__s_," Bane said, the sarcasm missed by no one, "But you only know half the story. Let me show you the rest; I'll get you into the factory, via my secret entrance."

Miss Martian knelt near him, her eyes glowing. "There _is_ a secret entrance, but he's also hiding something."

"Ah, ah, ah, _chica_," Bane said as he felt the foreign presence in his mind, "Bane is not that easy."

Miss Martian huffed in irritation. "He's mentally reciting _futbol_ scores, _en español_… this could take a while."

"It's not complicated," Bane said, smiling, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

The Team looked at each other for a moment, then nodded; they had to accept the help, or risk running into a trap.

Bane led them to a cliff that oversaw the factory, and allowed the heroes to see what was going on. Robin pulled out a pair of binoculars, Kid Flash used his goggles, and Ken and Superboy used their super-vision; what they saw surprised them—the cultists were moving mass quantities of Venom, and from the haste they were making, something was happening soon.

"That's a lot of product," Ken commented, "Robin, you know crime like this better than anyone here. Any thoughts?"

"There has to be a buy going down," Robin answered, his expression thoughtful, "but if Kobra isn't selling to the usual suspects…"

"Like punks that Bane sells to?" Warhawk interrupted, glaring at the villain, who didn't seem to be taking offense.

"We need to find out who the buyer is," Ken said, "Kobra wouldn't go to the trouble of taking this island unless someone way higher on the food chain wanted him to."

"Just what I was thinking," Kid Flash said, though no one knew if he was serious or if he just wanted to look like he was.

"Yeah, right," Robin said sarcastically, "_you're_ the thinker."

"Sarcasm? Dude," Kid Flash said, this time really serious, "A _real_ leader would be focused on getting answers."

The sound of falling stone grabbed the Team's attention; Bane had moved behind them and shoved aside a large boulder and gestured to the now-revealed tunnel.

"Answers are this way."

Kid Flash rolled his eyes as the Team followed Bane into the tunnel. "Great, so now _el_ _luchador_ is our leader!"

Aside from when Robin smacked him upside the head, no one paid attention to the speedster. The Team followed Bane for several minutes, before he led them to a large door, which he opened after punching in a code. They found themselves in an empty section of the factory, though the sound of items being moved could be heard nearby; Robin stuck his head out and checked the area.

"All clear!" he whispered, then dashed ahead; by the time the others made their way to where they thought he was, Robin was gone.

"Has that little fool already been caught?" Bane asked.

"No, he just does that," Warhawk said, sighing.

"Stay put," Kid Flash said, pulling down his goggles, "I'll get our intel and be back before the Boy Wonder."

"KF, don't…" Ken tried to grab him, but the speedster was gone.

"Great chain of command," Bane muttered; despite their dislike of the villain, the remaining heroes couldn't help but agree with him.

Knowing that there wasn't anything they could do about their missing teammates, the group hid behind several crates of Venom as they observed the cultists moving large containers.

"That's a big shipment," Warhawk commented.

"Yeah, but they're only taking _new_ product," Superboy said, then tapped the slightly dusty crates they were hiding behind, "They aren't touching _this_ Venom."

"Maybe freshness counts?" Miss Martian offered; before Superboy could respond, he and Ken turned their head towards the large window behind them.

"Helicopter," Superboy said.

"And coming in fast," Ken added, "Looks like the buyer's here."

…

In the computer room on the second level of the factory, Robin threw a pellet at the feet of the only cultist in the room; the pellet released a cloud of knockout gas, then quickly dispersed. Robin moved the unconscious man out of his way, then took his place at his computer.

After a few moments of typing, Robin heard a familiar whooshing sound, and then an equally-familiar voice.

"Whatcha got?" Kid Flash asked, though his voice was muffled by the protein bar he was eating; like his uncle, Kid Flash had to eat a lot of food, and since he would be on missions that would last for hours, his costume had several compartments that contained snacks.

"Chemical formulas," Robin said, not looking up, "I'm guessing it involves Venom, but…"

Kid Flash pointed at the formula on the screen with his half-eaten protein bar. "This one's Venom," then Robin brought up another one and brought it next to the first, "And this one is… whoa! That's the Blockbuster formula from Genesis! Mixed correctly, Kobra's new juice is three times stronger than Venom… and permanent. But how did Kobra get a hold of Project Blockbuster?"

Robin thought about it for a moment. "Our mystery-buyer must also be Kobra's supplier! They're using the cult to create a Blockbuster-Venom super-formula!" Robin reached for his comms. "Robin to Ken, we've got…" Robin flinched at the feedback he was suddenly getting. "Static; we're being jammed!"

…

Outside the factory, the helicopter landed, and a heavily-muscled blond-haired man stepped out; he wore light body armor, and his face was concealed by a gray hockey mask. He ignored the rows of cultists that greeted him, instead making his way to Kobra himself.

"Lord Kobra," the man said, nodding his head in greeting.

"Sportsmaster," Kobra said, "the shipment is ready."

The woman with the scalp-tattoo stepped forward and handed Sportsmaster a case with several vials of blue liquid. Sportsmaster gently pulled one vial out and inspected it.

"The new Kobra-Venom?"

"A complete success," Kobra said, gesturing to Mammoth, who stood nearby, "Our… friends… will not be disappointed."

Sportsmaster nodded. "This is a game-changer. Finally, we can go mano-a-mano with the Justice League!"

What none of them knew, however, was that Miss Martian was hovering above them observing the entire exchange.

{Ken,} she said via telepathy, {I'm sending you a telepathic image of the buyer now.}

Inside the factory, Ken, Superboy, Warhawk and Bane were taking cover on a catwalk; Ken closed his eyes as the image appeared in his mind.

"Oh, crud," he said, "Sportsmaster is the buyer?"

Sportsmaster had been an active mercenary and assassin-for-hire for nearly twenty years. His reputation was second only to Deathstroke, but unlike the orange-and-black-wearing killer, Sportsmaster had no morals. Out of all of the non-meta villains, he was one of the most dangerous.

"Robin and Kid need to know about this," Warhawk said.

"Right," Ken raised his hand to his comms, "Robin, Kid Flash, do you read?" When nothing happened, he scowled and tried someone else. "Red Tornado, come in… Watchtower, is anyone there? Great, I can't reach anyone!"

"D'you have a plan?" Warhawk asked.

"I have one," Bane said; before anyone could ask what it was, the villain jumped off of the catwalk, landing on one of the cultists and punching another. If Bane had been planning on being sneaky, he didn't do a good job; gunfire went off, alerting the cultists, as well as the supervillains outside.

"Is he nuts!?" Ken asked, before a roar from behind them made the three heroes turn.

They barely dodged the incoming Mammoth, who crashed through the window, as well as the catwalk; Ken and Superboy landed on the ground near Bane, while Warhawk flew down behind them.

"First Blockbuster, now this freak," Ken muttered, "Why do we always fight the ugly guys?"

Kobra, who had entered the factory with Sportsmaster and a dozen cultists, glared at the heroes.

"Destroy them!"

Mammoth made the first move, charging wildly; Superboy met the attack head-on, and though he found that he was slightly stronger than the monster, Mammoth had the reach, making them evenly matched.

The cultists ignored the two berserk fighters, choosing instead to fire on Ken and Warhawk; the former spared a glance behind him to see how Bane was going to help, but the masked villain was gone.

_Figures, _Ken thought, then raised a shield of green Mana to protect Warhawk; as the bullets bounced off the shield, Ken opened a small hole in it, in order to fire blasts of Mana at each cultists. A few bullets caught his attention when they struck him in the face; he glanced up to see several cultists standing on the remains of the catwalk and fired down on them.

"Warhawk, take out the guys above!" Ken said, dropping his shield in order to hurl blasts of Mana faster, "I'll take care of things here!"

"Got it!" the Thanagarian said, then took off, gracefully dodging the bullets headed his way; he landed in the midst of the cultists, and then began wailing on them.

Sportsmaster had been observing the fight so far, waiting to see if an opening presented itself. His eyes narrowed when he saw several cultists go flying, yet nothing seemed to be hitting them; then he noticed a faint shimmer in the air. He pulled a small spike from his belt, which then extended into a javelin; when he hurled it at the shimmer, it dodged, but the timed explosive within the javelin went off, sending the now-visible Miss Martian flying.

Ken knew he could handle the cultists; they were only using bullets, after all. Still, there were a lot of them, and sooner or later, someone on his side would get hurt. As he noticed a pair of cultists behind him, he wished that Robin and Kid Flash hadn't run off; as if hearing him, the missing speedster arrived in a blur, kicking one cultist into the other. Kid Flash waved, but then had to duck behind a large container when another group of cultists started shooting at him.

"Miss Martian!" Ken yelled, "Comms are down; link us up!"

Miss Martian shook her head to get out of her daze, then forged a telepathic link between each member of the Team. She had assured them that she was not reading their minds, nor controlling them in any way; it was purely a way for them to instantly communicate.

{Everybody online?} she asked.

{Yeah,} Superboy said, still uncomfortable with a telepath in his mind.

{You know it, beautiful,} Kid Flash said with a smile, despite the bullets flying around him.

{I'm here,} Warhawk said, even as he knocked out another cultist.

{All right,} Ken said, {we need to regroup.}

{Busy now,} Robin said.

…

The Boy Wonder was outside the factory; he had just hopped off of the parked helicopter when he heard the sound of footsteps. He turned to see Kobra and the tattooed woman next to him.

"Batman must be desperate," the cult leader said, "If he sends his whelp to task me."

"What's wrong, Koby?" Robin grinned, "You look disconcerted."

"This is beneath me," Kobra scoffed, then turned to the woman, "Shimmer, take him."

Shimmer smirked, then charged, only for Robin to effortlessly flip over her; Robin was reaching for his brass knuckles when he heard Ken's voice in his head.

{Robin, _now_!}

Scowling, Robin threw a flash-bang, disorienting both Shimmer and her master long enough for him to disappear.

…

Back inside the factory, Ken electrified a handful of cultists that had been keeping Kid Flash pinned down.

{We need to get out of here,} he said, {KF, clear a path.}

{Got it!} The speedster dashed off, knocking out one cultist before bouncing to another and doing the same; in a few seconds, the Team had a way out, back through the secret entrance that Bane had shown them. Robin joined them just as they entered the door; Superboy stayed behind, but only because he was still wrestling Mammoth. Knowing he needed to follow his teammates, the clone hurled the mutant at a group of pursuing cultists; by the time they got up, the heroes were already running down the tunnel.

"Superboy!" Ken yelled out loud, "You and I have the support-beams!"

As they ran, the cousins smashed the wooden beams, letting the tunnel collapse behind them. After a deafening crash, the chase ended; there was several tons of debris between the cultists and the Team.

While his teammates caught their breath, Ken lit up the tunnel with a glowing sphere of Mana; everyone was in various states of dismay, but Robin was the worst.

"How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?" he asked, confirming Ken's suspicion that Robin already believed he was the leader.

"Well, you have the most experience, and the most training," Ken said truthfully; Batman had begun Jason's tenure as Robin at only nine years old. He had been rigorously trained, and while Ken had begun his superhero career at ten, he was sure that his parents had not pushed him as hard as Batman would have.

"Maybe that's why you weren't able to lead effectively," Warhawk said; his military-style training had allowed him to spot the flaws Robin had as a leader. "When you fight alongside Batman, your roles are defined; you don't need to talk. This team, however, is new, and a leader has to tell his or her teammates what needs to be done; they can't follow unspoken orders."

"What, you expect me to hold everyone's hand!?" Robin snapped; the two bird-themed heroes glared at each other before Robin sighed. "Oh, who am I kidding? I don't have what it takes to be a leader; I can plan out a mission like Batman, but I don't have that fire like Superman, or Ben. I think we all know who I'm talking about."

Everyone, save for Kid Flash and Ken, began to nod, before turning to look at the latter; the Mana in Ken's hand flickered for a moment as he realized who they were talking about.

"No!" he shook his head. "I do _not_ want to be in charge!"

"Why not?" Warhawk asked, "You were pretty good back there, and then there was the fight against Mister Twister…"

"Hel_lo_, Megan!" Miss Martian slapped her forehead, "It's so obvious!"

"I could have told you that," Superboy said with a smirk.

"Oh, please!" Kid Flash said, "I can run circles around…"

"Come on, Barry," Robin interrupted, "you know he's the one; we all do."

Kid Flash tried to look stubborn, but in his heart, he knew that Robin was right; Ken had been able to naturally assume a leadership role almost instantly. None of the others, including him, could do that. Finally, he grinned and patted Ken on the back.

"Okay," he said, "you win."

Ken looked each of his teammates in the eyes, then sighed. "You're not going to let me say no, are you?"

The only response he got was five shaking heads. Ken closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"All right, I'll do it," he said, then lightly elbowed Robin, "but I'm gonna need a second-in-command, and since you claim to be able to plan like Batman…"

Robin grinned. "Won't let you down, 'boss'."

Ken's face became serious. "Now that that's settled, we need to stop that shipment from leaving this island; if every criminal in the world starts getting turned into that ugly guy from before…"

"Not even the League could stop them all," Robin finished, "Just what I was thinking."

"Even if we stop the production of this Kobra-Venom," Ken said, leading the Team through the tunnel, "we still have the problem of Sportsmaster getting the samples he has off the island."

"Actually, I was able to delay that," Robin said, "I sabotaged the helicopter before I joined up with you guys."

"Dude, up top!" Kid Flash raised a hand, which Robin high-fived.

"Speaking of Sportsmaster," the Boy Wonder continued, "He's the supplier-slash-buyer, but it still doesn't track; he doesn't have the juice to acquire the Blockbuster formula, or to get Kobra to do his dirty work."

"And neither of them have the chops to bond Blockbuster with Venom," Kid Flash added, his incredible knowledge of chemistry coming into play, "That took some major nerdage."

"Isn't there a human expression for this?" Miss Martian asked.

"Yeah," Warhawk said, "It's called the tip… of the… iceberg."

He trailed off when he saw the blinking lights around the mouth of the tunnel, and froze, along with the rest of the Team; they were surrounded by explosives! At the entrance, Bane stepped forward, his body augmented by Venom, and a detonator in his hand.

"Halt, _niños_," he said, "I'm feeling… explosive."

"Oh, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal," Ken said sarcastically, then switched to the telepathic link, {KF, you'll need a running start; Warhawk, the second he steps back, cover him with your wing.}

Kid Flash slowly moved back, while Warhawk stretched his wings, as if he meant to fly forwards; Ken spoke again, in order to distract Bane.

"So, in all seriousness, why did you betray us?"

"I want my factory back," Bane explained, "So I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies or die trying. If the latter, the Justice League would certainly have come to avenge their sidekicks. And when the smoke cleared, Santa Prisca would be mine once more!"

Bane raised the detonator. "Blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect."

Just as Bane began to move his thumb towards the button, Kid Flash raced by, snatching it out of his hand.

"With what?" He asked, leaning against a tree and holding up the detonator, "This trigger thingy?"

Bane tried to rush forward and punch the speedster, but Miss Martian lifted him high into the air with her telekinesis.

"Finally," Superboy said, positioning himself under Bane, then nodded at Miss Martian, "Drop him."

With a grin, Miss Martian released her hold on Bane, allowing gravity to take its toll on the villain; he dropped face-first, right into Superboy's punch.

"Good plan, Ken," Robin said as he tied Bane to a tree, "But I have to ask: a 'Firefly' quote? Seriously?"

"Oh, like you weren't thinking it," Ken shot back, "Now come on, we have work to do."

…

Twenty minutes later, at the factory, the cultists' hard work was rewarded when the engines of the helicopter began to work again; this time, the helicopter was filled with cases of finished Kobra-venom. One of the cultists bowed before Kobra.

"The damage has been repaired, Exalted One," he said.

Ignoring the man, Sportsmaster moved towards the helicopter, his case of Kobra-Venom samples in hand. Just before he reached it, however, a black-and-gray blur knocked down two of the cultists; Kid Flash grinned and waved tauntingly, before speeding off and kicking another cultist.

"Take the shipment!" Kobra shouted to Sportsmaster.

Several more cultists aimed at Kid Flash, but Superboy, who had jumped nearly a quarter-mile, landed among them, the impact scattering them. The clone smirked at Mammoth.

"Go again?" he offered. The mutant snarled, then charged; just before Mammoth reached him, a torrent of flame slammed him to the side.

"Sorry, not the plan," Superboy said, as Ken stepped forward, fire still shooting from his hands; as his cousin worked, Superboy prepared to break the helicopter, but was knocked back when Sportsmaster shot him with very large gun. The shots didn't hurt Superboy, but they kept him pinned down.

Ken kept burning Mammoth, only letting up when the mutant fell to his knees in pain; he then wrapped Mammoth's head in a sphere of Mana, cutting off his air. Since he was already breathing heavily from the pain, Mammoth quickly used up his oxygen and passed out.

Kid Flash continued to knock down cultists, while Warhawk covered him by swooping down and tackling any who tried to get a bead on the speedster.

While that was going on, a camouflaged Miss Martian snuck aboard the helicopter. Unfortunately, as she was getting back out, Sportsmaster saw her and roundhouse-kicked her in the head, before picking her up by the throat and using her as a shield. Superboy tried to go after him, but Sportsmaster kept him pinned with his cannon.

Kobra observed the battle with an ever-deepening scowl; his forces were being decimated by _children_, of all things! He glared at Kid Flash, who had tackled a nearby cultist, knocking off the man's mask and grabbing it.

"Cool, a souvenir!" the speedster shouted, before dashing off.

Shimmer moved to chase him, but a bola wrapped itself around her, knocking her down. Kobra turned to see Robin, standing in a ready position, his brass knuckles equipped.

"I know you hate getting your hands dirty," Robin said.

"True," Kobra agreed, before removing his hooded cloak, revealing Adonis-like musculature, "But sometimes, even a god must stoop to conquer."

Robin charged, then feinted with his fists, instead bringing his foot up in a devastating kick. Incredibly, Kobra caught the blow with one hand; he barely even glanced at the Boy Wonder. Kobra dropped his opponent; Robin easily landed on his feet, then turned the landing into a leg-sweep, which Kobra jumped over. Robin tried kicking him again but, like before, Kobra caught it; this time, though, Kobra kicked back, sending Robin flying a good ten feet backwards.

"What's wrong, boy?" Kobra asked, "You look disconcerted."

With Mammoth down, Ken joined Kid Flash and Warhawk in beating down the remaining cultists, while Superboy was still struggling to reach Sportsmaster.

"Thanks for the workout," the villain said, tossing Miss Martian at the Kryptonian, "But I've gotta fly."

Superboy glared as the helicopter flew up, just as Warhawk flew near them.

"I can catch up to him!" he yelled over the roar of the rotors.

"No need," Miss Martian said, holding up a detonator, the same one Bane had tried to use against them; with a smirk, she pressed the button.

Above them, the rear of the helicopter exploded, along with the crates of Kobra-Venom; Sportsmaster jumped out with a parachute, disappearing into the jungle. A few moments later, the out-of-control helicopter landed on the factory; the entire building went up in a massive explosion.

From his tied-up position on the cliff, Bane ground his teeth in frustration, as everything he had ever worked for was destroyed.

Robin would have made a quip, but he was too busy getting beaten into the dirt by Kobra, who planted a foot on his chest. The cult leader glared at the burning wreckage.

"I am plagued by mosquitoes!" he yelled.

"Good," Robin spat out, "because this mosquito is mighty concerted over your pain!"

With a twist, Robin freed himself, then back-flipped back to his teammates, who were gathered together, ready to fight. Kobra considered his options, then backed away into the jungle.

"Another time, then," he said, before vanishing; Robin tried to follow him, but the snake-like man had disappeared. Shaking off his disappointment, he made his way back to the group.

"We picked the right guy to lead," Robin said to Ken, then gestured to the wreckage nearby, "Automatically making _you_ the right guy to explain this mess to Batman."

As Robin laughed, Ken paled.

Now, he _really_ didn't want the job.

…

**Mount Justice, July 23, 10:06 EDT**

"A simple recon mission," Batman growled, "Observe and report."

After the mission, the Team had headed home, only to find that Batman and a good number of the League were very, very angry with them. They had only avoided an immediate chewing-out by presenting Batman with what they had found; the Dark Knight had then given them a few hours to rest, while he processed the new information. Now that he had done so, he wasn't holding back, though Superman and Ben were present as well, looking amused.

"You will each receive a written evaluation detailing your many mistakes. Until then," Batman gave the smallest of smiles, "good job."

The Team, who had been looking more and more depressed, looked up in surprise.

"No plan survives first contact with the enemy," Batman explained, "How you adjust to the unforeseen determines success… and how you choose who leads, determines character."

Batman's back was turned, which gave Ken and Robin the opportunity to fist-bump. Batman spent a few more minutes explaining how much responsibility Ken had, and emphasizing that the Team would have to be sure to follow his orders.

Once Batman had dismissed the Team, the members headed to the teleporters to get sent home; since Superboy had been living at the Cave, he was operating the teleporters. Once he was done, he heard a cough behind him.

"Superboy, do you have a minute?" Superman asked.

"Uh, sure." Superboy had a somewhat-friendly relationship with the Man of Steel, but there was still a little awkwardness on both sides.

"I know that you don't have a place to go to, besides here, I mean," Superman said, "I would have invited you to stay with me sooner, but there was someone I wanted you to meet when you got there. She just got back from the Middle East, and is very interested in seeing you."

"Okay…" Superboy said uncertainly; he was a little wary of strangers, and it had taken him weeks to get comfortable with the current members of the Team. Who was Superman going to introduce him to?

Superman punched in the coordinates, and he and his clone disappeared in a flash of light.

…

**Metropolis, 10:30 EDT**

Superboy looked around the spacious apartment as Superman got changed into his civilian clothes. The place was nice, and he wouldn't mind staying here if he had to, but it seemed a little too bright for his taste.

A knock at the door made him spin around and take a fighting stance.

"It's okay," Clark's voice called out as he emerged from his room, now in slacks, a button-up shirt and glasses, "Just relax; I'll let her in."

Superboy sat on the couch, but he didn't relax when Clark brought in an attractive woman with long, black hair, a light-purple coat and a short, white skirt. She looked at Superboy, then at Clark.

"Wow, Smallville, you weren't kidding; he _could_ pass as your son!" before Clark could say anything, the woman walked past him and held her hand out to Superboy. "Hi, I'm Lois Lane Kent."

Superboy hesitated a moment, then shook her hand. "Superboy."

Lois frowned. "Don't you have another name?"

Superboy shrugged. "Don't have one yet."

"We'll work on that," Lois said, "What do you think of… Conner?"

"Um, it's okay," Superboy said, "Why are you asking?"

Lois turned and frowned at Clark. "You didn't tell him yet?"

"I was about to," Clark grumbled, then sat on Superboy's left, while Lois sat down on his right, "Superboy, we know that you haven't got a real home yet. Now, I know that Ken already calls you his cousin, so I thought we could make it official."

"What do you mean?" Superboy asked.

"If it's okay with you," Lois said, "We'd like to legally adopt you… as Conner Kent. What do you say?"

Superboy, or Conner's, eyes went wide; he looked from Lois to Clark, who nodded.

"You would be our son, legally," Clark said, "Since we share DNA, you'd already be my son, biologically."

Lois looked at the young Kryptonian, who continued to stare. "You okay? You look a little overwhelmed."

"I'm not," Superboy said, grinning, "I'm perfectly whelmed."

…

**Unknown Location**

Sportsmaster did not like to fail. Even if you succeeded a thousand times, people would always remember one failure, and when people remembered you, you had a reputation. In this case, Sportsmaster's employers would certainly remember a failure of this magnitude.

Circling around him were video screens, each with the silhouette of a member of the Light. Sportsmaster held up a small container filled with blue liquid.

"All I was able to save was a single ampoule of Kobra-Venom."

"_Perhaps the drug can be reverse-engineered," _one member said in a thick, French accent, _"Mais, what of our young heroes? First, Genesis, then Mister Twister and the alien girl, and now, Santa Prisca."_

"_Once is happenstance," _the figure on the center screen growled, _"Twice is coincidence. Three times, however… three times is enemy action, and enemies of the Light must not stand."_

**Okay, so I know that a good chunk of this chapter was similar to the canon episode, but I definitely had to change a few things. This Robin is not Dick Grayson, he's Jason Todd; Jason doesn't have the leadership abilities of the first Robin, though since he's trained by Batman, he would have excellent strategic capabilities, thus making a good second-in-command.**

**Just in case, I should make a disclaimer about the Firefly quote.**

**FIREFLY DOES NOT BELONG TO ME.**

**As for Superboy getting his name now instead of later… well, Superman isn't a jackass in this story, so why not?**

**Next chapter, we have… stuff.**

**It's crazy, we finish each other's…**

**Muffins!**

**That's what I was going to say!**


	6. Schooled

**BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. YOUNG JUSTICE DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. IF I DID, CREATING A CROSSOVER BETWEEN THE TWO WOULD BE AWESOME!**

**You know what the downside to having superhuman abilities is? Being an arrogant jerkface. Enter, Superboy!**

Unlimited Justice, Part 1

Chapter 5

Schooled

**Metropolis, August 3, 07:38 EDT**

It was a fairly calm summer day in Metropolis—there were no disasters taking place and no supervillains attacking the city. Perhaps it was some kind of curse, or maybe it was just bad luck, but at that moment, the bridge connecting half of Metropolis to the other across the bay area began to collapse.

In order to avoid a falling suspension cable, a school bus full of children had to sharply swerve; in doing so, it was hit by several other cars, pushing it to the point that it was falling off of the bridge, along with a handful of other vehicles.

Fortunately, Metropolis' protector, Superman, was close at hand, as was his cousin, Supergirl. The two Kryptonians flew under the sagging bridge and pushed it back up to its original position, then began using their heat-vision to weld the collapsing supports back together.

"Been a while since you've been in Metropolis," Superman said conversationally, "Lois and I would love for you and Ben to bring the kids over some time."

"When would we have the time? Between missions with the League for us and the Team, we barely have enough time as…" Supergirl was cut off when a sudden impact shook the bridge. "What the heck was that!?"

"Not 'what', but 'who'," Superman corrected with a rueful shake of his head.

"Oh, great," Supergirl said sarcastically, "The help is nice, I guess, but does he have to jump around like a monkey?"

Seeing his 'father' and 'aunt' heading into action, Superboy had been right behind them; however, since he couldn't fly, he was forced to jump great distances instead. This method got him to the scene shortly after the older Kryptonians, but every time he landed, it created a tremor.

Once he was on the bridge, Superboy lifted several of the cars up and placed them on a safer location, then moved on to the bus. While he was easily strong enough to pick up a bus, the precarious position and lack of leverage on his part meant that the bus was still sliding off of the bridge.

Just as it began to fall, another force lifted the bus up into the air, against gravity. Caught off-balance, Superboy fell backwards to see Superman flying above him, the bus held in his hands. As soon as the clone's parent gently placed the bus on a secure location, he turned to him.

"Nice work with the cars," Superman said, "but your landing almost destabilized the bridge."

Superboy bristled. "But it didn't."

Superman held his hands up defensively. "I'm not blaming you—I just want you to be a little more careful in the future, especially when innocents are involved."

Superboy glanced at the children staring at the Man and Boy of Steel from inside the bus and felt a little guilty.

"Sorry about that," he said grudgingly, "I just wanted to help."

"And you did," Superman assured him, "but we don't know the full limit of your powers yet."

"Well… maybe the two of you could help me figure that out?"

_Two of us? _Superman asked himself, _who else is he talking about… oh._

Superman glanced behind him to see Supergirl hovering over the bay, glaring at Superboy with barely-disguised suspicion. Over the last month, and the last two weeks especially, the clone had been trying to reach out to Ken's mother, but had been rebuffed each time. Superman could see that it was tearing Superboy up inside; after all, he was on good terms with everyone else in the Kent-Tennyson family—save for Jen, who he hadn't met yet—but Supergirl was the exception.

"I promise, we'll be sure to help you with—hang on, I'm getting a League alert." Superboy tensed in anticipation as he listened to half of a conversation. "Superman here, what's the—whoa, hold on, Green Arrow, _what's_ attacking? I see; Supergirl and I are on our way." Superman looked back at his clone/son. "Sorry, Superboy, but we'll need to get there faster; I'll see you at home, okay?"

Reluctantly, Superboy nodded, as Superman flew off, Supergirl just ahead of him.

"We need to talk," Superman said seriously.

"Later," Supergirl said through gritted teeth, "We have a bad guy to stop."

_That talk is only delayed, Kara, _Superman thought, _Conner needs a family, and you're coming close to driving a wedge between it._

…

**Mount Justice, 13:06 EDT**

The Cave was more than just a base for the Team. It was also a place for them to get to know each other, train and, in this case, play. At the moment, Kid Flash and Warhawk—in their uniforms, like everyone else—were playing a holographic version of air-hockey. Kid Flash was showing off to Miss Martian, as he scored a point while eating a banana in one hand.

"_Recognized: Superboy, B-05," _the computer announced, as Superboy teleported into the Cave in a flash of light.

Ken, who had been watching the air-hockey match from off to the side, could tell that his cousin was upset. Most people would think that, from his expression, the clone was angry—that would normally be a good guess; no matter the situation, Superboy always seemed to be in varying degrees of anger—but Ken had gotten to know his cousin well-enough to see that he was upset over something.

"Hi, Superboy," Miss Martian said cheerfully, "How was Metropolis?"

Without a word, Superboy walked through the hologram, not really caring where he was going until Ken reached out and gently grabbed his shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

Superboy shrugged his cousin's hand off. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

Wordlessly, Ken backed off, knowing that Superboy would talk when he was ready.

_Hopefully, we'll get a mission or something soon, _Ken thought, _it might give Conner a chance to vent his frustrations with whatever is annoying him._

A cough from behind the Team alerted them to the fact that they weren't alone.

"Ready for training, everyone?"

"Black Canary!" Miss Martian said to the blond-haired woman who had spoken, then to the other two people behind her. "Uncle J'onn, Aunt Verdona!"

"Hi, Grandma!" Ken said, dashing up to hug his great-grandmother, while Miss Martian hugged her uncle.

"Hello, Ken," Verdona said, smiling, "How's leading a team been treating you? I hope you've been practicing with your Mana-based abilities."

"So far, so good," Ken said with confidence, "and I practice all the time, so don't worry."

"And how are you, M'gann?" J'onn asked his niece, "I hope you've been adjusting well?"

"A few bumps along the way," Miss Martian admitted, "but I'm learning."

"That's all I can ask for," J'onn said, while Verdona floated over to give the younger Martian a one-armed hug.

Black Canary smiled at the familial exchanges, but her eyes caught Superboy leaving the room.

"Stick around," she called out, halting the clone in his tracks, "Class is in session."

As Black Canary stepped forward, the center area of the floor lit up. "I consider it an honor to be your teacher. I'll be throwing a lot at you: everything I learned from my own mentors…" as she pulled off her jacket, she hissed when it brushed up against her left arm, which was bandaged.

"… And my own bruises."

"What happened?" Miss Martian gasped when she saw the injury.

"The job," Black Canary shrugged, then got on with the lesson. "Now, combat is about _controlling_ conflict, putting the battle on _your_ terms. You should always be acting, never _re_acting. Now, I'll need a sparring partner."

"Right here!" Kid Flash said, raising his hand and stepping into the ring. "After this, I'll show you _my_ moves."

Ken had to resist the urge to slap his forehead; Robin and Warhawk didn't share that restraint, and the sound of gloved and gauntleted hands hitting their respective heads could be clearly heard.

"Does he know that she's not only married to Green Arrow, but also that she's one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in the League?" Warhawk whispered to Robin.

"The better question is," Robin replied, "does he care?"

For her part, Black Canary only smirked, before suddenly launching forward, her right fist headed towards Kid Flash's head. The speedster blocked, only to have his legs kicked out from under him, and he fell heavily to the ground. The other members of the Team, along with J'onn and Verdona, winced at the sound, as a hologram of the word 'fail' appeared next to Kid Flash.

"Oh," Kid Flash moaned, "it hurts so good…"

"Good block," Black Canary complimented as she helped him to his feet, "but can anyone tell me what he did wrong?"

"I know," Robin said, smirking, "he hit on teacher and got served!"

"Dude!" Kid Flash hissed in embarrassment.

Black Canary, on the other hand, was completely serious. "He allowed me to dictate the terms of…"

"Oh, please," Superboy scoffed, his arms crossed, "With my powers, the battle's _always_ on my terms. I'm a living weapon, and this is a waste of my time."

Black Canary smiled again. "Prove it."

Rolling his eyes, Superboy stepped into the ring, while Kid Flash quickly got out, not wanting to get hit by either hero again.

Both fighters took ready stances; Superboy only waited a fraction of a second before throwing a punch. Instead of dodging, like the clone expected, Black Canary grabbed his arm and flung him over her, and he landed hard on his back. Again, the word 'fail' appeared next to him.

Robin snickered, only to get elbowed by Ken; the Boy Wonder covered his mouth, but the laughter was only muffled. Superboy got up, enraged, and snarled at Black Canary.

"You're angry, good," she commented, "but don't react; _channel_ that anger into…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Superboy charged again, only for her to flip over his head and sweep his legs out from under him, knocking him to the floor again. Black Canary held out her hand to help him back up, but he pushed it away.

"That's it," he growled, "I'm done."

"Training is mandatory," Black Canary said gently, but firmly, as she placed her hand on his shoulder; Superboy shook it off and glared at her, but before either of them could say anything, a holographic screen appeared, with Batman's masked face on it.

"_Batman to the Cave," _he said, and waited a moment for the Team to gather, _"Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary."_

On a smaller screen, a recording of a person with a bare torso, green pants, red eyes and orange hair appeared. The recording showed this person beating down Superman, Supergirl, Red Tornado and several other Leaguers.

"_The attacker was capable of studying, then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents. Green Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous, as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant."_

"Whoa," Kid Flash whispered, "One guy with the powers of the whole League?"

_Sounds like my dad, only evil, _Ken thought, _but at least now we know how Canary got hurt._

"_In the end," _Batman continued, _"it took eight Leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android."_

"It was an android?" Robin asked, "Who built it, T.O. Morrow?"

"_Good guess, Robin," _Batman said, _"But Red Tornado doesn't think so."_

"This is similar to when the original members of the League fought Amazo," J'onn said, "He had the same ability, though this android's appearance is very different."

"Didn't Professor Ivo make Amazo?" Ken asked, "I thought he was dead; how could another of these robots be running around?"

"_The Professor Ivo who created the original Amazo is indeed dead…" _Batman began.

"But we recently discovered that he had a younger brother," Black Canary finished, "And though the two had been estranged, we now know that _this _Ivo was almost as intelligent as his brother, and may have gotten his hands on part of the original Amazo's design."

"And this one is apparently evil," Verdona added.

"_To make certain that this threat is permanently neutralized," _Batman said, getting to the reason why he called, _"We're sending two trucks, containing the android's parts, to two separate STAR Labs facilities in Boston and New York for evaluation and destruction. Every precaution is being taken; we'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo, or anyone, tries to recover the remains. You will split up into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks, save for Warhawk, who will be providing aerial recon at high altitude."_

"Yes!" Kid Flash said, pumping a fist, "Road trip!"

Superboy, however, was much less happy. "So now we take out your trash?"

"_You had something better to do?" _Batman shot back.

A second later, Robin's glove-mounted computer beeped; after checking it, he nodded to Ken.

"We've got the coordinates," Ken said, "Let's go, Team."

As the Team moved out, Superboy felt a hand on his shoulder again; he turned to see Black Canary looking at him with a friendly smile.

"When you're ready," she said, "I'll be here."

Superboy didn't answer, instead choosing to simply follow after his teammates. When he was gone, Verdona floated next to Canary and sighed.

"I hope that talk with Kara helps things," she said, "That tension is going to reach its limit soon, and when it does, it's going to be ugly."

…

**Litchfield County, 20:08 EDT**

Ken tugged at his new outfit's collar. He, along with the rest of the Team, minus Warhawk, were dressed in civilian clothing over their uniforms—save for Miss Martian, who just used her shapeshifting to make the clothes—that matched their motorcycles. Those vehicles were made by Batman himself, practically drove themselves and would take a lot of effort to crash; this was a welcome feature, since several people on the Team didn't know how to ride a motorcycle.

"You guys ready?" Ken asked, and waited for each of the other motorcycle-riders to nod before turning to Warhawk. "Good luck, man."

Warhawk nodded; while he would be high above them, he would technically only be providing support for both teams for a short while, and then he would be part of Miss Martian and Kid Flash's group, while Ken, Superboy and Robin would be the other.

Right before Superboy put on his helmet, he saw a figure looking at him; using his super-vision, he found that it was Supergirl. The clone raised an eyebrow, but Supergirl quickly glanced away with an annoyed expression. Scowling, Superboy put his helmet back on and tried not to look again.

Batman, along with Superman, Supergirl and a handful of other Leaguers had been overseeing the four decoy trucks and the two real ones. The Dark Knight stepped forward and waved his hand at the trucks; a moment later, the vehicles all started driving in different directions. The Leaguers watched as the trucks pulled away, then caught the Team splitting up and following after two in particular.

Satisfied that the job was done, the heroes began to leave; before Supergirl could take off, however, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I told you," Superman said sternly, "we need to talk."

…

For a while, the escort-mission was quiet and calm, much to both groups' relief. This gave them time to talk, while keeping their eyes peeled for trouble.

"Hey, I've thought of something," Robin said, pulling up beside Superboy and Ken, "If 'dislike' is the opposite of 'like', is 'disaster' the opposite of 'aster'? See, instead of things going wrong, they go right!"

"I guess that makes sense," Ken said, "but isn't 'aster' something that has to do with biology?"

"Eh, biology, English, they're two different things," Robin said dismissively, then turned to Superboy, "What do you think, Supey?"

The clone didn't react, save for deepening his scowl.

"Um, clearly you're not feeling the aster," Robin said, "What's wrong?"

_Supergirl, _Superboy wanted to say, but he didn't want to upset Ken by complaining about his mother.

"Canary," he said instead, "I mean, what business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super-strength?"

"Taking down stronger guys is part of the gig," Robin said.

"Yeah," Ken added, "Even Superman has fought guys stronger than he is, and he couldn't just outmuscle them; he had to use his brain."

"And because the League has so much more experience than we do," Robin continued, "They get to teach us how to do the same."

"Hey, hasn't Superman been teaching you how to use your strength?" Ken asked; when Superboy nodded, he continued, "Then I guess that means that you're the second Kryptonian he's taught, so he knows how to teach; that's more than a lot of our mentors can say. Except for Robin, I mean; you're, what, the third Robin?"

"Yes," Robin said grudgingly.

"I'm the second?" Superboy asked, "Who was the first?"

"My mom," Ken answered easily; to both his and Robin's surprise, Superboy gunned the engine of his motorcycle and sped ahead, leaving Ken to look at Robin in confusion.

"What did I say?"

…

"Do you think Superboy's okay?" Miss Martian asked as her group followed their truck, "I wasn't reading his mind, I swear, but anger just… _flowed_ off of him in waves."

"Surf that wave; just give him some space," Kid Flash scoffed, then moved his motorcycle closer to the Martian's, "Me? Stick as close as you want."

"Uh…" Miss Martian still didn't know how to react to the speedster's incessant flirting.

"_Superboy just needs time to cool off," _Warhawk said over the comms, from his position above them, _"Maybe a quiet mission like this will clear his head of whatever's ticking him off."_

"You mean, 'whatever's ticking him off _today'_," Kid Flash corrected, "And have you met the guy? He'll probably feel better after kicking some butt."

What none of them noticed, however, was the rustling in the cornfields behind them; a few seconds later, and a swarm of green-and-black robotic monkeys, equipped with jetpacks, flew out of the fields and headed right for the truck!

The robots flew past the group and attached themselves to the truck; green beams of energy began cutting through the armored vehicle, while the three heroes moved to stop them.

"Ken!" Warhawk called into his comms, as he swooped down, "Our truck is under attack!"

…

"By robotic monkeys, right?" Ken answered back, as several dozen mechanical simians latched onto his team's truck. "You guys, too? Must be a new fashion or something."

Superboy glared at the robots, remembering what Supergirl had said about him earlier. "I _hate_ monkeys."

"Robot monkeys," Robin laughed, "This Professor Ivo sure has a weirder tweak-style than the last one!"

Robin pressed a button on his bike; the rear wheel and part of the bike detached and unfolded into a drone with two rotors. The drone began firing on the monkeys with a laser-cannon.

"Hey guys," Robin called out, "switch your rides to battle-mode!"

"Don't need it!" Superboy shouted, opting instead to leap off of his bike and onto the armored car; the force of his jump knocked his bike into the air.

"Time to go!" Ken said, grabbing Robin by the shoulder and jumping onto the truck as well, just as Superboy's motorcycle collided with theirs, crashing all three. The three heroes punched and kicked their way through most of the monkeys on the roof, but there were too many attacking too much of the armored car for them to stop them all in time.

Superboy smashed apart a handful of robots, then grabbed another to do the same; just before it was crushed, however, it fired green beams of energy from its eyes and into Superboy's. While Superboy was incredibly tough, the high-powered energy hit his most vulnerable organs; unbalanced and in pain, Superboy couldn't fight back when a few of the monkeys picked him up and dropped him on the road. Almost in spite, the monkeys destroyed Robin's drone before heading back to fight the other two heroes.

Thankfully, Superboy had a healing factor, and his sight quickly returned, even if it was blurry; even without it, he could use his super-hearing to locate the monkeys, who were cackling in a synthesized squeak. With two long-distance jumps, he was almost caught up.

…

The rest of the Team was having similar problems. Half of the monkeys were going after Warhawk and, while he was better in the sky than they were, they were still a danger. Kid Flash had ditched his motorcycle, since he was faster anyway, and was busy knocking the robots off of the sides and rear of the armored car. Miss Martian was distracted by several monkeys who jumped on her, and was unable to stop several more from cutting through the top of the vehicle, overpowering the guards inside, and making off with the pieces of the android.

Miss Martian was attacked by even more robots, who clung to her; unable to get them off of her fast enough with just two arms, she opted to use her shapeshifting to sprout more limbs from her sides, back and even her head. With the extra power that more limbs granted her, she quickly got rid of her attackers, then did the same to the robots that were on the front of the armored car; however, her changed appearance did nothing to help the already-frazzled nerves of the driver.

Kid Flash was similarly affected by the Martian's new look, nearly having a panic-attack when he saw her. Her teammate's startled reaction was enough for Miss Martian to revert back to her normal amount of limbs.

Warhawk, who had just finished off the last of his attackers, scowled; despite their best efforts, they had failed their half of the mission. He could only hope that Ken, Robin and Superboy were having better luck.

…

Ken had been doing a good job of frying the robots with bolts of lightning, but he couldn't get them all; thankfully, when the monkeys had tried shooting him like they had his cousin, all they did was give him an energy-boost.

Robin was doing well against his foes; he had traded his normal brass knuckles for a pair of trench knives—essentially brass knuckles with a long, wide blade on one end—and was using them to eviscerate any robot in range.

When Superboy arrived, Ken felt that the extra power the clone offered would firmly place the advantage in their corner. Unfortunately, the monkeys seemed to realize that the heroes were now too much for them, and resorted to fighting dirty; they blew out the tires of the armored car.

Like his teammates, Ken had been taught to always save lives over items; seeing that the car was going to crash, he smashed the roof of the car away, grabbed the guards inside, and jumped clear, while Robin did the same for the driver. Before anyone hit the road and got seriously hurt, Ken wrapped them all in a large bubble of Mana, cushioning the fall.

The armored car, however, was not so lucky; it crashed, flipping over several times before landing on top of Superboy. A few seconds later, the monkeys grabbed the crate of android parts and flew off. Superboy, disoriented but unharmed, lifted the car off of himself, just as his eyes finished healing; the first clear image he saw was the monkeys, flying away with their objective.

Enraged, he jumped after them, ignoring everything else. Ken was about to go after him, but he was stopped when he received a signal from the other squad.

"_Ken, Warhawk here; we lost our cargo, did you…"_

"It's gone, too," Ken interrupted in an unhappy tone.

"And so is our teammate!" Robin said, waving at Superboy's retreating form.

Frustrated with his cousin's behavior, Ken tried contacting him. "Superboy, can you see where the robots are going? If you can give us your best estimate, we can help you…"

"_Don't need any help!" _Superboy shouted back, _"Don't _want _any!"_

There was a brief squeak of feedback, and then silence.

"I think he just destroyed his comm," Robin said.

"_Super," _Kid Flash complained, _"now we can't even track _him_!"_

"_He's out of my telepathic range," _Miss Martian reported, then huffed. _"This Professor Ivo, whoever he is, seems to be two steps ahead of us. Maybe… maybe we should contact the League?"_

"_They'd just tell us to handle our own problem," _Warhawk retorted.

"He has a point," Ken said in a tone that the others had quickly come to recognize as his 'leader voice', "We can still complete the mission, as long as we stop the android from being reassembled."

"_That's a _great_ plan,"_ Kid Flash said sarcastically, _"Except for the part about us not knowing _where to look_!"_

"Maybe we do," Robin said, kneeling next to one of the partially-destroyed monkeys and inserting a cord into its back, "We'd have heard by now if the decoys had been attacked, so how did these monkeys know exactly which trucks to target?"

After a few moments of hacking the robot's computer, Robin smiled in triumph. "Ha! The parts have GPS! The monkeys can track the signal, which means that I can track 'em with this one here. It looks like both sets are converging on…" he looked at Ken in alarm, "Gotham City!"

Ken thought about it for a moment. "Okay, Warhawk and Miss Martian: you two can't get there fast enough, so you'll have to catch up when you can. Robin, take one of the bikes and meet up with Kid Flash before heading to Gotham. I'll go after Superboy and try to keep him from doing something stupid."

After receiving affirmatives from the Team, Ken launched himself in Superboy's direction, making the same long-distance jumps that his cousin used. As Robin made his way back to his bike, he shook his head.

"Definitely a disaster," he said to no one in particular, "Heavy on the dis."

…

**Metropolis, 21:18 EDT**

Clark had taken Kara to a small but popular restaurant called Bibbo's Diner. While Kara knew that there was a lecture coming, she was still happy to be here; it was one of the best superhero hangout-spots outside of the Watchtower or Metro Tower. Serious matters were rarely discussed here, so maybe things weren't as bad as she thought.

That changed, however, when she entered the restaurant and found that there were already people waiting for her. Lois, Verdona—in human form—and her husband, Ben.

"What are you three doing here?" Kara asked as she sat down next to Ben, who in turn, was sitting next to Verdona, while Clark sat next to Lois.

"We have a problem," Verdona began, "We all thought that you would get over the issue over a little time, but…"

Lois took over. "You're treating your nephew like crap." She raised an eyebrow at the looks everyone else was giving her. "What? I'm not going to sugar-coat it."

"Look, Kara," Ben said, placing his hand over his wife's, "I know that Conner… reminds you of some bad times. But he's never given us a reason to think that he was a threat."

"Aren't you forgetting about when the other boys first met him?" Kara said darkly, "You don't remember that that… clone… almost killed them? I remember, and I remember the last time I saw a Kryptonian clone. I almost died, Ben almost died… for crying out loud, the entire _League_ almost died!"

"We remember," Clark said softly, "And we know that he was being controlled by the Genomorphs. What _you _seem to be forgetting, however, is that Conner was able to resist those mental commands later."

"He was made the same way as… _her_," Kara growled, not referring to her clone, Galatea, by name.

"Yes, he was made from Cadmus research," Ben said, "And we all hate what those people did as much as you, but…"

"Even knowing that," Lois said, "Clark and I still adopted him. He's our _son_, Kara, and we love him just as much as you love Ken and Jen. Speaking of your kids, Ken was the first to consider him part of the family. I know that I can't speak for Jen, but I think she'd like him, too."

Lois' suspicion that Kara was purposefully preventing Jen from meeting Conner was unspoken, but everyone knew about it anyway.

"What if you're all wrong, though?" Kara said, even as she felt pangs of guilt, "Okay, so maybe he's consciously a good kid, but we have no idea if Genesis put any sort of programming into him that even he doesn't know about!"

"J'onn scanned his mind last week," Ben said, ruefully remembering how challenging it had been to get Conner to let the Martian into his mind, "He didn't find anything."

"J'onn couldn't find anything in Doomsday's mind either, did he?" Kara countered, and was rewarded with a flinch from Clark, remembering his near-death at that monster's hands.

"Doomsday was different," Clark defended, "He hated me not just because he was programmed to, but because he _wanted_ to. Conner wants to be like me, and he can't do that if his family hates him."

"I'm not…" Kara began to deny, her hand crushing the edge of the table, then took a deep breath. "Look, just… I have issues with clones, you all know that. I'll try to act better, I promise."

Everyone else looked at each other for a moment, then nodded. A few minutes later, they had ordered food and the conversation drifted to less serious matters. Even so, Kara was left with plenty to think about; she really shouldn't let her past experiences blind her, and everyone else had accepted Conner… so why couldn't she?

…

**Gotham City, 21:21 EDT**

Superboy—now in his mission-outfit, having ripped his civilian clothes off on the way—had been following the robots and their cargo for almost an hour; despite his rage at the machines, the part of his mind that was still rational knew that if he destroyed the monkeys, he might lose their creator, Ivo. So he stayed behind them, eventually tracking them to a moving train headed into Gotham, which he jumped onto.

He dug his hands into the roof of the train car and ripped a hole in it, then jumped inside. In front of him, surrounded by a dozen robot monkeys, was a small man with wrinkling skin, gray-streaked orange hair and out-of-style clothing, complete with a bowtie.

"Hello," the man said cheerfully, yet with an undertone of malice.

"You? _You're_ Ivo?" Superboy scoffed, "I'm whelmed."

"You're one to talk," Ivo replied, "Since when does the big, blue Boy Scout have a brat?"

"He doesn't," Superboy snarled, and thought to himself, _I'm his son, you creep_.

Ivo shrugged. "If you say so. Have you met my Mobile Optimal Neural Quotient Infiltrators?"

Most of the group of robot monkeys—or MONQIs, as Ivo had called them—flew forward to attack, but Superboy destroyed them in seconds. The destroyed head of one robot bounced back to the feet of its creator, who sighed.

"And after all the trouble I went through finding an acronym for 'monkey'."

As Superboy finished destroying the last two MONQIs, he heard a new voice from behind Ivo, hidden in the shadows.

"_Access: Captain Atom."_

Before Superboy could react, a beam of radioactive energy hit him in the chest, hurtling him backwards and through several crates. Ivo took a step forward and smirked.

"Since Professor Ivo's magnificent MONQIs don't float your boat, maybe my amazing Amazo-2 will better suit you," Ivo stepped back as the now-assembled android stepped forward, "or better slay you."

Superboy scowled and got back up. "Gimme your best shot."

The MONQIs behind Ivo laughed, and the Professor himself scoffed. "Please, my android has the strength of Superman; what chance do _you _have?"

Enraged by the jab, made worse by the fact that he knew he wasn't as strong as his father, Superboy charged forward and delivered a flurry of super-fast punches, all of which Amazo-2 blocked, save for one. That blow knocked the android's head completely around, but the damage almost instantly reversed.

Superboy threw another punch, but that one was caught in Amazo-2's hand, while Ivo chuckled.

"Sorry, did that strike a nerve?" Ivo turned his attention back to his android, "Amazo, strike a few more."

Amazo-2 reached back, then punched Superboy in the face, driving him back to the end of the train car.

"_Access: Black Canary."_

The android's lower jaw split apart, then unleashed a sonic scream that pummeled Superboy's extra-sensitive hearing.

"_Access: Flash."_

Superboy looked up in time to see a metal blur heading right for him, and knew that he was in for a lot of pain.

…

"How does Superboy do this so easily?" Ken—who had changed into his mission-outfit along the way—asked himself as he jumped another quarter-mile, yet stumbled on the landing. "Maybe I should practice this more."

His super-hearing had tracked Superboy to the same train, and now Ken was only a few leaps away from catching up. From the sound of metal fists hitting flesh, Ken could only hope that his cousin could hold out long enough.

His worry disrupted his concentration, however; he miscalculated the distance needed for the last jump, and if he missed it now, he'd have to waste valuable seconds catching up again.

Just before he began falling to the ground, he felt something under his feet; he looked down to see what appeared to be a circle of solid shadows holding him up! On any other day, he would be trying to figure out what had happened and who was responsible, but the sound of his cousin in pain snapped him out of it.

Using his new vantage point, Ken launched himself forward, using his intangibility to pass through the various train cars until he reached the one Superboy was in. Amazo-2 was taken by surprise; Ken's fist bowled him over. Ken turned to his cousin.

"You okay?"

"I will be," Superboy said, getting up, "as soon as we take this piece of junk out!"

"Oh, wonderful," Ivo said, "Now there are two targets for Amazo."

The android got back up, said, _"Access: Flash," _and dashed forward, only for Ken's foot to catch its knee, while Superboy hit its opposite shoulder, spinning the android around.

"_Access: Martian Manhunter."_

Amazo-2's arms stretched out and grabbed both teens by the front of their shirts, and hurled them out of the train and deeper into Gotham City. The android turned to its master.

"Finish them," Ivo ordered, "Priority Alpha."

Calling on Superman's powers of flight, Amazo-2 followed the cousins, intending to follow its creator's order and kill them.

…

On the outskirts of Gotham, Robin was met by Kid Flash; the latter waved in greeting as he easily matched speeds with the former's motorcycle.

"So, you changed too?" Robin asked rhetorically, gesturing to both of them, now in uniform.

"Are you kidding?" Kid Flash shuddered in mock-horror, "I feel naked in civvies. Are you still tracking the parts?"

"They were heading _through_ Gotham," Robin said, looking at the GPS on the front of his motorcycle, "but they veered; now they're at… dude, they're at my _school_!"

…

Ken found himself bombarded by Black Canary's sonic scream, stunning him long enough for Amazo-2 to switch to Superman's powers and knock Superboy down a locker-lined hallway.

_At least he can only use one power at a time, _Ken thought in relief, before his eyes went wide when he saw the android heading for his cousin.

"Hey, Tin Man!" Ken shouted, before hitting Amazo-2 in the back of the head with a bolt of Mana. "Come and get me!"

The android's eyes glowed when it saw the green energy wrapped around Ken's fist.

"_Analyzing," _it said, before a green glow surrounded its fists, _"Analysis complete. Resuming elimination order."_

Ken barely got his arms up in time to block a Mana-infused punch that sent him flying.

Superboy forced himself back to his feet, using the broken lockers beside him as a crutch. A picture of Supergirl caught his attention, as well as the words 'I want to be just like her!' in pink marker written underneath. Angrily, Superboy put his fist through the picture, and the locker door, before moving to help Ken.

The clone headed to the gymnasium, where Amazo-2 was stomping Ken's head through the wooden floor.

"Hey, I'm still here!" Superboy roared, "You're gonna have to do better than that!"

Amazo-2 raised its palm and pointed it at him. _"Access: Captain Atom."_

The beam of radiation struck Superboy in the chest, knocking him across the gym; as the clone struggled to get back up, he heard a slow clapping and saw Ivo sitting in the bleachers, a pair of MONQIs at his side.

"I don't usually attend these things in person," he admitted, "but, heh heh, this was too good to miss."

Superboy glanced over at Ken, who was unconscious for the moment; he'd have to buy time for his cousin to recover.

"_Access: Superman," _the android said, before the two clashed again; Amazo-2 was able to easily defeat the clone, and then dragged him over to where Ken, who was starting to regain consciousness, was lying.

Just as the android lifted his arms to crush them, a yellow-and-red blur ran past, snatching up both fallen heroes.

"Yoink!" Kid Flash taunted as he moved past, stopping near Robin, who threw an explosive disk at the android, who called on Martian Manhunter's power to turn intangible. Ken shook off the last of his daze and got up, as did Superboy.

"I think we've got a chance now," Ken said, as Amazo-2 stepped forward.

"_Access: Red Tornado," _the android said, before a crimson twister appeared around it, propelling itself forward, the wind knocking all four of them backwards.

Kid Flash looked up, just as Amazo-2 fired Captain Atom's nuclear energy at him, which he barely outran; the speedster tried to circle around it, but the android used Black Canary's sonic scream to send him flying.

"_Access: Superman," _Amazo-2 said, blocking Superboy's punch, then switching to Superman's invulnerability to let a bolt of Mana from Ken bounce off of it. The android did the same for Robin's explosive disks, until Kid Flash ran up again; Amazo-2 switched to the super-strength again and wrapped the speedster in a pair of bone-breaking arms.

Just as the android was about to kill Kid Flash, a green arrow flew right at the robot's head. Switching to Martian Manhunter's intangibility, Amazo-2 let the arrow fly through it harmlessly; however, when it did so, Kid Flash fell through its arms, where he quickly scrambled out of the way.

"_Access: Black Canary," _the android said, using the incredible fighting skills of that heroine to flip a charging Superboy into the other side of the gym, then dodged an explosive disk from Robin.

"_Access: Superman."_ Kid Flash barely tackled Robin out of the way of the android's heat-vision.

"_Access: Flash." _Amazo-2 ran in a super-fast circle around Ken, throwing a barrage of punches, then grabbed him by the jacket and hurling him up into the ceiling.

Superboy got out of the hole he'd created just in time to see Ken fall down, only to have his fall broken by the android, who kicked him in the chest. The clone was about to charge forward again, but something Amazo-2 had said suddenly clicked in his mind.

"Access: Black Canary," Superboy whispered.

"Oh, yawn," Ivo said, drawing Superboy's attention, "normally, my android would study and mimic your abilities in battle, but other than Ken 10's energy-based attack, there's nothing worthwhile; you're all such poor copies of the originals."

"So everyone keeps saying," Superboy snarled, "IT MAKES ME ANGRY!"

Ken, Kid Flash and Robin got back up in time to see Superboy jump forward, over Amazo-2 and towards Ivo; the Professor barely scrambled out of the way as the clone landed.

"WANNA SEE ME _CHANNEL_ THAT ANGER!?"

"Oh, great," Kid Flash groaned, "He's gone ballistic again!"

"Maybe not," Robin said.

"I think he finally figured it out," Ken added with a smile.

"Amazo," Ivo said frantically, barely dodging another attack from Superboy, "Protect your master, priority alpha!"

"_Access: Captain Atom," _the android said, firing a beam of energy at the clone; this time, however, Ken jumped in front of the shot and absorbed the energy, then used it to super-charge his lightning attack, resulting in a blast of electricity from his mouth the width of a car. The shot knocked the android back, but it was far from done.

Ivo, who was being picked up off the ground by his MONQIs, was suddenly kicked from behind by Robin.

"Anyone want to play keep-away?" the Boy Wonder asked tauntingly.

"Oh, me! Me!" Kid Flash dashed forward, but Amazo-2 used Red Tornado's powers to knock the speedster away from its master.

Robin hurled another explosive disk at the android, who turned intangible; Superboy landed in front of it and placed his fist through the android's still-intangible head. Amazo-2 tried to move backwards while switching to Superman's powers, but for some reason, it couldn't move. Unable to stop the power-switch, the android turned solid, with Superboy's fist still in its head; a second later, that head exploded.

As the decapitated Amazo-2 fell to the ground, Ken noticed a mass of shadows, similar to the one that had helped him earlier, fade away from the android's ankles; whatever those shadows were, they had held the robot in place, allowing Superboy to win.

Robin ran forward. "Help me disassemble him, now!"

"Dude, the guy has no head," Kid Flash pointed out.

"Don't take any chances," Ken said, "That thing had Manhunter's powers; it could regenerate, or something."

"He's right!" Warhawk said from the other side of the gym as he and Miss Martian flew through the doors.

"Superboy, are you all right?" Miss Martian asked, helping the clone to his feet.

"I'm fine," Superboy said, then grinned at Robin, "Feeling the aster."

"Hey, where's Ivo?" Kid Flash asked; the Team looked around, but the Professor was nowhere to be seen.

"So much for extra credit," Ken said tiredly, as he moved to help Robin.

…

**Mount Justice, August 4, 01:06 EDT**

After delivering the disassembled android, the Team made their way back to the Cave, where Batman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Green Arrow and Ben waited for them to get cleaned up before they were debriefed.

"The android is in pieces again," Ken said, "and those pieces were delivered to the STAR Labs, where they were safely destroyed. However, Ivo got away, and since he built the Amazo-2, he might make another, more dangerous, android."

"The League will put 'catching Ivo' on the top of the to-do list," Ben assured the younger heroes.

"However," J'onn said, folding his arms, "We heard that your mission had other… complications."

Everyone's gaze fell on Superboy, who looked away and huffed.

Batman stepped forward. "Complications come with the job; your ability to handle them has impressed the League."

"The _whole _League?" Superboy asked, his question aimed at Superman. Ken sent a similar look towards his father; on the way back, Superboy had told Ken why he had been angry, and now Ken was more than annoyed with his mother.

"In time, yes," Superman assured them both.

"Kryptonians, as you know," Batman added, a rare and almost imperceptible smile on his face, "Have very hard heads."

The Team chuckled a little at Superboy's expense; the clone took it in good humor as Batman continued.

"Of course, there's no shame in asking for help, that's why the League exists—because there are some problems even we can't solve individually."

"Please, if we needed help, we'd never get the chance to ask!" Robin walked up and held up the arrow that had saved Kid Flash's life, waving it in front of Green Arrow. "Look familiar? You were following us—babysitting us! You still don't trust us!"

"We didn't follow you," Batman said, as Green Arrow pulled out an arrow from his quiver and compared it to the one Robin held; while his arrow was serrated and thicker at the arrowhead, the one Robin had was smaller, lighter and lacked serrations.

"So, that's not your arrow," Ken realized, "but who was helping us? I mean, we have a mystery archer who can also do weird shadow stuff?"

Batman glanced at Ben, who shrugged; when Ken had described what had happened, the Leaguers were stumped.

"We're not sure," Ben said, "But we'll keep an eye out for whoever was helping you."

"Either way," Kid Flash said, taking the arrow out of Robin's grip, "Souvenir!"

As most of the Team pondered their mystery savior, Black Canary heard a cough behind her; she turned to see Superboy, his head slightly bowed.

"I'm ready to learn," he said softly.

"Good," Black Canary replied, "Because I'm here to teach."

**There are probably many questions, like why I called Amazo Amazo-2 in this version, and who the other helper was.**

**For the first, remember that I'm making this a continuation of Justice League Unlimited, so I had to change some stuff. In the timeline I'm using, the Ivo who made the golden, omnipotent Amazo died. I just needed a new Ivo and thought, "why not give him a younger, less intelligent brother?". After all, the golden Amazo was made of nanotech stuff, while this Amazo… well, I'm not too sure about that, but whatever.**

**As for who the other helper was (for those who have seen the show, you know who one is), you'll have to wait for after the next chapter. It will be the first all-original chapter of this story, not including the prologue.**

**Now for a little begging on my part: Guys, I know you like this story, but please, PLEASE read my Star Wars story. I'm not getting enough feedback on it, and I want to improve in **_**all**_** of my writing. I'm not asking for you to read the whole thing, just a little bit to see if you're interested. If you are, great; tell me what you liked or disliked and would have me fix (just make it polite; no flames), favorite and/or follow if you want, but I'd like some love for more than just this, and maybe you'll find something else that you'll enjoy reading.**

**Spartans! Tonight, we dine on Muffins!**


	7. Infiltrator

**BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. YOUNG JUSTICE DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY OC'S DO, AND I'M PAYING THEM TO STAY THAT WAY… INGRATES WANTED TO JOIN MARVEL, FOR SOME REASON.**

**Do you know what today is? It's New OC Day! That's right, we get a new original character in this chapter!**

Unlimited Justice, Part 1

Chapter 6

Infiltrator

**Infinity Island, August 7, 23:49 ECT**

_This is the most boring assignment in the world, _a guard thought as he watched for a nonexistent intruder alongside his partner. He knew that he wasn't supposed to talk during guard-duty, but at that point, he didn't care; he needed _something _to do besides stare at sand and rocks.

"Hey," he said to his partner.

"Yeah?" the other man said, in as bored a tone as the first guard felt.

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

The other man looked at him through his night-vision goggles. "That's one of life's big mysteries, isn't it? I mean, why _are _we here? Do we choose our own path, or are we the pawns in some big, cosmic game? Is some God controlling us, or is there even a God at all? I don't know, man… but it keeps me up at night."

The first man stared at him. "What the _hell_ are you talking about? I asked why we were _here_, on this island. I mean, we're in the middle of nowhere, nobody knows where this place is, and we have enough automated defenses that having actual guards is pointless. And all of it is for, what, some scientist who makes tiny robots? Big freaking whoop."

The second guard looked down for a second before answering. "Well, we have the scientist lady here because we didn't want anyone to find her. Isn't that obvious?"

"Well, duh; I still think we could have left it to the automated defenses." He shot his partner a sidelong glance. "So… what was all that talk about God?"

"Nothing…"

"No, I want to know what you talking abou—wait, do you hear that?"

The second man looked around. "I don't see anything."

"That's why I said _hear_, idiot."

"Well, I don't _hear_ anything, either; what does it sound like?"

"It sounds like a… whistling, no, two things whistling, I guess," the first man said, "And it's getting louder, almost like something is headed right for us."

As soon as he said that, a pair of red-painted arrows whizzed down, both hitting the men in the center of their chests. For a second, the men thought they were dead, but when they only felt a slight impact, they grinned at each other behind their ski-masks.

"Thank you, body-armor!" they said together, before the electric charge in each arrow shorted out their nervous systems, knocking them out.

A young-looking man in a tight-fitting, red-and-black outfit stepped over the unconscious duo, and quickly made his way to the outer wall of the fortress at the center of the island. Seeing no one nearby, he pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it on his bow; the arrow flew up with a line trailing behind, and deployed a drill-and-hook to secure it.

The man began singing 'Secret Agent Man' to himself in a whisper as he began to climb the wall.

Once he got to the top, he quietly knocked out one guard in his way, then ran to the far end of the complex, where he shot another man with a tazer-arrow. The man fell to the ground, twitching; the archer pulled the unconscious man to safety, then placed a few explosives on the door.

A few seconds later, the door blew apart; the archer rushed in, knocking out the stunned guards inside, much to the amazement of the room's sole conscious occupant, a slender woman with short, blond hair, large glasses and a white lab coat. She was cautiously coming out from behind her flimsy cover of a desk and a computer, but looked ready to duck behind it again if the archer tried to attack her.

"Doctor Roquette?" the archer asked her.

"Yes…" the woman said shakily, "Please tell me that you're the advance-guy."

"The _only_ guy," the archer corrected her, "Now, where's The Fog?"

Roquette sighed. "It's not here."

The archer froze. "What?"

"They took it an hour ago," Roquette explained.

"Are you _kidding_ me!?" the man raged, "I've been going Sam Fisher on these guys for, like, five islands now, and you're telling me that it was all for _nothing_!?"

"What about rescuing _me_!?" Roquette asked, incredulous; the archer eyed her uncertainly.

"I don't know," he said, "What makes you more important than The Fog?"

"My designs in nano-robotics can cure cancer!" Roquette snapped.

"Well, I don't have cancer," the archer said nonchalantly, "Try again."

Roquette seethed. "If I could get somewhere with Internet-access, I could track down and maybe disable The Fog."

The archer seemed to consider it for a moment, then shrugged.

"Yeah, okay."

He pulled out an explosive arrow and aimed it at the wall; the shot blew a sizable hole in the stone. The archer gestured for Roquette to come over to him; once she did so, he fired a zip-line arrow into the trees below, grabbed the doctor and zipped down to the ground. The two of them ran for the beach, when the archer suddenly made a left turn, heading for a boat that was docked at a pier.

"Was all this part of your plan!?" Roquette shrieked as she dove head-first into the boat, as bullets from pursuing soldiers whizzed overhead; the archer ignored her for a moment as he started up the boat and began heading towards the open ocean.

"Actually, the boat was improvised—I swam here."

Roquette looked up and noticed a tiny piece of seaweed in his hair; the man wasn't kidding! The archer then grinned at her and held up a detonator in one hand.

"This part, however… this part I planned."

His thumb came down on the red button; five seconds later, the shooting suddenly stopped, and five second after that, a massive explosion rocked the island.

_I may have just been saved by the craziest hero on the planet, _Roquette thought to herself.

…

**Mount Justice, August 8, 09:58 EDT**

It was a beautiful summer morning in Rhode Island, perfect for a day at the beach—which was exactly what four of the six members of the Team were doing. All of them were clad in swimsuits—even Rex, who didn't even swim, due to his wings—and had plenty of food and other things used at the beach.

M'gann took in a deep breath, filling her lungs with ocean air. "Hel_lo_, Megan! We should hit the beach every day!"

Jason grinned at her for a moment, before bowing his head in mock-remorse. "First, a moment of silence for our absent comrades."

M'gann's face fell a little. "Ken, Barry… those poor boys."

Unlike the others, Ken and Barry had to go to school that day; Jason would have been at his school as well, but it was currently undergoing repairs after the fight with Amazo-2. Rex was homeschooled, while M'gann and Conner hadn't been put into the system by Batman, so they weren't going to school for a while longer.

Still, the fate of their teammates didn't stop the rest of them from enjoying their fun as the morning stretched into the afternoon.

…

In Central City, Barry found his first day of school to be boring, uneventful and worst of all, to a speedster, anyway, _slow_. He couldn't wait to get out that boring school and back to Mount Justice; with any luck, he'd be able to make it to at least part of the beach party and, more importantly, see M'gann in a swimsuit…

"Mister Allen!" Barry looked up from his daydreams and at his math teacher, who raised an eyebrow at him.

"I hope you were paying attention, because this is important."

Barry suppressed a groan. Being on a beach with M'gann would have to wait; even a superhero could get stymied by algebra, it seemed.

…

**San Francisco, 08:30 PDT**

Ken, meanwhile, was having a much more enjoyable day at school. It wasn't because the lessons were particularly interesting—they weren't—but after everything that had happened over the last month with the Team, he hadn't had a chance to hang out with his two best friends. Those same friends had been waiting for him at his high school's entrance and ran at him the second he came into view.

"Ken!" Valerie Sage cried out, tackling Ken in a hug, which he returned, making sure not to accidentally hurt her.

Valerie was sixteen, almost seventeen, and was already considered one of the most—if not _the_ most—attractive girls in school, with flawless skin and slender yet athletic form. She was slightly above-average in height, only a few inches shorter than Ken. Her long, black hair came down to the middle of her back, while her bangs curled around her eyes, which could make any boy feel weak in the knees at the merest wink.

The other teens who passed by gave them weird looks as they passed; Ken was known as a quiet geek for the most part, and yet he had somehow garnered the attention of a knockout like Valerie. If anyone observed them, however, it would have been obvious that the two were just friends, comfortable enough with hugging each other without being embarrassed.

The boys who figured that out immediately wondered if that meant that they had a shot with Valerie, but no one ever did, for two reasons. First, because Valerie shot them down each time, and she shot them down _hard_; the second reason was actually running up to the two hugging teens and lifting them in the air with muscular arms.

"Hey!" Ken laughed, "Put us down, Victor; you're gonna kill us, you maniac!"

Victor Stone, an African-American boy of sixteen years, was a giant, almost seven feet tall, with huge, rippling muscles. His head was shaved, which meant there was no hair to muss as he threw his head back and laughed. Like everything Vic did, it was loud and drew the attention of everyone in the vicinity.

Why Victor was the reason that boys tended to avoid swarming over Valerie like rabid piranhas was simple: more than one of those boys had ended up beaten, bruised and often in a trashcan after Vic was done with them. He wasn't Valerie's boyfriend, but acted more like an older brother, especially when someone wanted to ask her out; so far, no one had met his standards.

Once again, people were stumped at the sight of three people who never should have mixed like they had. Victor was the star football player and son of a brilliant STAR Labs scientist, while Valerie was the pale-skinned beauty whose past nobody could figure out, and Ken was the geek who always wore long sleeves, even in the summer. Yet, inexplicably, in the face of high school prejudices, those three had bonded in a way that no one could figure out.

Victor's laughter finally subsided, and he lowered the two to the ground. Ken held out his hand expectantly.

"I assume that one of you got my schedule for the semester?" he asked, smiling.

Valerie smiled back and handed him a sheet of paper. "How you talk us into doing this every year, I'll never know."

Ken shrugged. "Because after you do, I always tell you what I did over the summer."

Valerie and Victor looked at each other knowingly.

"And I'm guessing you'll explain why we haven't been able to get in touch with you for almost a month?"

Ken looked around, satisfied that no one was looking at them anymore. "Not now; during lunch, okay?"

…

During lunch, in a secluded corner of campus that the trio liked to use for privacy, Ken told them about what had happened, starting with Genesis, meeting Superboy, and everything that had happened since.

Neither Valerie nor Victor were surprised that Ken was a superhero; they had found out five years earlier, when Ken had saved Val from a falling cinderblock with just one hand. After that, his parents had taken the two aside and asked if they meant it when they promised to keep Ken's—and by extension, their own—secret identities to themselves. In five years, neither of them had ever broken that trust, and had become Ken's sounding board and confidantes; some of the things he admitted to them even his parents didn't know about.

The two knew about the risks that Ken went through every day, and both became a little more worried when he told them how he had to lead the entire Team, but they knew that Ken could handle it.

"So, these teammates of yours," Victor said thoughtfully, even as he ate a burrito, "They all seem kinda dysfunctional, don't they? I mean, Warhawk is stable, I guess, but I've seen Kid Flash on the news; the guy is like a hamster on coffee! And doesn't Robin use trench knives? A little creepy, if you ask me. Didn't you also say that your cousin was a loose cannon? Seems a little tough."

Out of respect to his teammates, Ken never revealed the secret identities of any of the heroes he worked with, something that Val and Vic completely understood.

Ken nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, it can be hard sometimes, but we're getting there; we just need to work out the kinks."

Victor shrugged. "If you say so, man; I'm just sorry I can't be out there with you, kicking butt and takin' names."

Valerie patted his shoulder consolingly. "Come on, Victor, you know that if you or I went out beating up the bad guys, Ken would just worry himself silly the whole time."

"Hey!" Ken protested, while his friends laughed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Val," Victor said, then turned back to Ken, "You better give me the blow-by-blow of each mission, okay? If I can't kick butt myself, I want you to give me all the details!"

"Don't worry, Vic," Ken said, grinning, "I'll give the next supervillain I fight an extra punch, just for you."

Victor pumped a fist. "All right!"

The three continued to eat their food in comfortable silence, but Ken was left wondering: the Team was starting to come together, but that was because they were starting to discover their group dynamic. What would happen if more people joined? Ken had to suppress a shiver; what new craziness would happen if more people joined?

…

Once school was over, Ken received a call from Batman, instructing him to report to the Cave for something important, but he didn't specify what it was. Ken decided that Batman wouldn't have told him to do something if it _wasn't _important, so he said goodbye to Valerie and Victor, then headed home to get teleported to Mount Justice.

…

**Mount Justice, 18:22 EDT**

When Ken arrived at the Cave in his mission-outfit, he realized two things: first, that he was the only member of the Team present, and second, that there were two teenage girls standing next to several Leaguers. One of those teenage girls he recognized.

"Hey, Koriand'r!" Ken said with a smile; the Tamaranean girl in question smiled back.

"Hello, friend Ken 10," she said; Ken could tell that she was still getting used to speaking English, "I have asked the Martian Manhunter and the Batman if I may join the Team."

"And since you're here," Ken said, glancing at the Martian and the Dark Knight, "I can assume that they said yes?"

J'onn nodded. "Koriand'r has had extensive warrior training in the past, and when I told her what the Justice League did for Earth, she wanted to be a part of it; however, she also wanted to be with a group that was… closer to her own age."

Ken held out his hand, which Koriand'r tentatively shook. "Welcome aboard, uh… I guess I should call you Starfire while we're in uniform, huh?"

Starfire nodded, then stepped back, allowing Ken to greet the other girl. "Sorry about not saying hello right away. I'm Ken 10."

The girl that Ken was addressing was shorter than him—no surprise, since Ken was almost six feet tall—and had long, blond hair that poked out of her tight-fitting green mask in a long ponytail. She wore tight, green pants, boots, elbow-length gloves and a sleeveless top that exposed her midriff; the top had an arrow-design on it, pointing up.

The girl shook Ken's outstretched hand with a confident smile. "I'm Artemis."

Ken pretended to look like he was concentrating hard. "Now, I could be wrong here, but judging from the name, the color-scheme, that bow at your side and the quiver on your back, I'd have to say you're… Red Tornado's protégé, right?"

Artemis shot him an amused smile, as did Green Arrow, who then patted Artemis on the shoulder. "She'll be joining the Team, too."

"Like I told Starfire," Ken said, "Welcome aboard."

While they waited for the rest of the Team to arrive, Starfire spoke with J'onn, and Ken chatted with Artemis. When he asked her why he'd never heard of Green Arrow having another protégé after Speedy, the mentor in question cut in, saying that he wanted to train her as well as he could before sending her out on missions. Ken made a note of the protective tone in Green Arrow's voice, just as the rest of the Team was teleported in.

"Koriand'r!" Miss Martian shouted as she ran forward and hugged the alien girl. "What are you doing here?"

Ken saw Starfire give him a strange look, so he stepped forward.

"Starfire here will be joining the Team," he then gestured to the female archer, "As will Artemis."

The rest of the Team introduced themselves to Artemis, who was at least polite, if not friendly. Ken figured that she was probably just unused to being among so many other heroes, and that she was still working on fitting in; it was understandable, since even Starfire had more experience working with the Team than she did. Though her somewhat lukewarm attitude might have been the result of the Team greeting Starfire much warmer than they did her; Ken was sure that Robin's eyes lit up behind his mask when he greeted the alien girl.

"Okay, we have more girls on the Team," Warhawk said quietly to Ken, "How bad do you think Barry will freak?"

"Who's Barry?" Artemis asked, overhearing them; Ken opened his mouth to answer, but an announcement from the Cave's computer preempted him.

"_Recognized: Kid Flash B-03."_

As soon as he materialized on the teleporter pad, Barry dashed forward, wearing swim-trunks and holding a cooler, beach umbrella and beach ball.

"All right, Barry is here, so let's get this party star…" Barry didn't finish his sentence; he tripped and fell on his face, his beach-stuff spreading across the floor. "…ted."

Artemis raised an eyebrow at Ken, who pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That's him?" the female archer asked.

"Yeah, that's him," Ken replied, then turned to Warhawk, "He forgot about the time-difference, didn't he?"

"Yep," Warhawk said, "He thought it was still around three o'clock."

Artemis took a step and looked down at the sprawled speedster. "Barry, huh? _Love_ the uniform; what exactly are your powers?"

Barry got up and glared at her, then turned to the rest of the Team. "Um, who is this?"

"Artemis," the blond girl said with a cocky smile, "Your new teammate."

"Kid Flash," Barry said curtly, "Never heard of you."

"She's my new protégé," Green Arrow cut in, and Ken again noticed the slight defensiveness in his tone.

"Oh, she's new, is she?" Barry taunted her, "No wonder I've never heard of you; I would have thought you'd show up on the news alongside Speedy, or something."

"_Recognized: Speedy."_

Everyone in the room turned to see the red-and-black clad form of Green Arrow's ex-partner; the man raised an eyebrow behind his mask at Artemis, but otherwise ignored the Team, heading instead for his former mentor.

"Okay, first," he said, "I don't go by Speedy anymore. Call me Red Arrow. Second, who is this, and why does she look like a cosplayer of you, Ollie?"

Barry snickered, which earned him a smack upside the head from Superboy, of all people. Ken wondered if it was because some news reports of him called him a punk-version of Superman, and felt some empathy with Artemis because of it.

Red Arrow ignored the antics of the younger heroes and looked at Artemis. "Can she even _use_ that bow?"

Tired of being addressed as if she wasn't in the room, Artemis marched up and tilted her head to look the much taller man in the eye.

"Yes, she can."

"Who _are_ you!?" Barry demanded.

"She's/I'm my/his niece," both green-clad archers said together.

Robin caught Warhawk's eye and whispered, "_Another_ niece?"

_That would explain GA's protectiveness, _Ken thought, _she's his family._

"She's not your replacement, Roy," Green Arrow said, using Red Arrow's real name, "She wanted to learn, and I taught her. You can't fault me for that, and you certainly have no right to be upset; it's been almost twenty years since you went solo!"

"Who said I was upset?" Red Arrow asked, "I just want to make sure that the archer on the Team knows what she's doing."

"She does," Green Arrow said with absolute certainty; Ken noticed that Artemis' lip twitched upward at the compliment.

"Well, Starfire knows what she's doing, too!" Barry protested, clearly not happy with Artemis on the Team.

"Please do not drag me into this," Starfire said softly.

Artemis rolled her eyes at the speedster. "Whatever, Baywatch, I'm here to stay."

Ken decided it was time to intervene, and stepped next to Red Arrow. "Why are you here, Red Arrow? If you needed help with something, why didn't you go to the Metro Tower?"

"I heard there was a black-ops team that worked with the League," the red-clad archer explained, "I thought this mission would be right up your alley."

"And that would be…?" Ken prompted.

"Doctor Serling Roquette," Red Arrow said simply.

Robin went over to the Cave's computer and pulled up a file on the doctor. "Nano-robotics expert from Royal University in Star City; she vanished two weeks ago."

"_Abducted_ two weeks ago," Red Arrow corrected, "by the League of Shadows."

That got everyone's attention. The League of Shadows was an infamous organization of spies, assassins and mercenaries; not even the Justice League had been able to take them down permanently.

"You want us to rescue her from the Shadows?" Robin asked excitedly.

"Hardcore!" Barry said, fist-bumping Warhawk.

"I already rescued her," Red Arrow told them, much to the Team's disappointment, as he walked up to the computer and inserted a flash-drive, bringing up a picture of an insect-like robot.

"There's only one problem; the Shadows had forced her to create a weapon that she calls The Fog. It's comprised of millions of microscopic robots; nanotech infiltrators, capable of disintegrating anything in their path—concrete, steel… flesh.

"But it isn't just destruction; it's also theft. The infiltrators eat and store raw data from any computer system, and deliver the stolen intel to the Shadows. That gives the access to weapons, strategic defense, cutting-edge science and tech…"

"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power broking…" Artemis sighed. "Yeah, sounds like the Shadows."

Barry rolled his eyes. "Like you know anything about the Shadows." Artemis' returning smirk only infuriated him.

"Who _are_ you!?"

"Roquette is working on a virus to render The Fog inert," Red Arrow said, bringing everyone's attention back to the mission.

Robin's eyes went wide. "But if the Shadows know she can do that…"

"They will go after the threat she poses to her plan," Starfire finished, making most of the Team look at her in surprise; they hadn't expected her to be just half a step behind Robin, of all people.

Though, to Ken, it would make sense that she would reach that conclusion; Starfire had been trained as a warrior, and in a fight, you did your best to eliminate any vulnerabilities to yourself or your plans.

"Where is Roquette now?" Ken asked.

"Off the grid," Red Arrow told them, "I stashed her at the local high school's computer lab."

"The local…" Warhawk muttered to himself, then yelled, "She's here in Happy Harbor!?"

"You left her alone!?" Green Arrow demanded.

Red Arrow shrugged. "She's safe enough, for now."

Green Arrow stepped forward. "Then let's you and I keep her that way."

"You and I?" Red Arrow echoed, "Don't you want to take your new protégé?"

Green Arrow opened his mouth to respond, but felt a hand on his shoulder; he turned to see Batman give him a meaningful look. Green Arrow sighed.

"You brought this to the Team; it's _their_ mission," he gestured towards Artemis, "Which means that it's _hers_, too."

Red Arrow shrugged. "Then my job is done."

As he stepped onto the teleporter, the computer identified him as Speedy again; he gave the Leaguers a glare.

"And update your damn computers!" he growled, right before he disappeared.

…

A short while later, the expanded Team was assembled in the Cave's hangar, checking their gear one more time if they needed it, as well as introducing Artemis to Ship.

"That's pretty cool," she had remarked, when the little alien went into his ship-form, "and he even matches my outfit."

Ship had, of course, been very pleased by the comments and when he made a seat for her within himself, he had made it extra-comfy. Kid Flash had grumbled, much to everyone else's amusement.

As Ken activated his clothes' stealth-mode, he noticed Artemis drawing an arrow—a normal one, not like the trick arrows that both Green and Red Arrow used, though she had some of those, too. Ken's eyebrows shot up when he recognized the design of the arrowhead.

"So it _was _you that helped us during the fight with the android," he said quietly to her, though he noticed that Robin and Superboy had heard him.

Artemis shrugged. "I happened to be nearby, saw the robot about to squish Baywatch, thought I'd lend a hand."

"Geez, archery and shadow-powers," Ken commented, "Very nice."

Artemis tilted her head in confusion. "I don't have shadow-powers… or _any_ powers, for that matter."

Ken blinked. "Oh… then there was someone else helping us, too. I don't suppose that you saw who or what it was?"

For the first time since Ken had met her, Artemis seemed genuinely concerned. "No, I didn't see anyone else there, sorry."

Ken shrugged. "Mystery for another time, I guess. Thanks for saving Kid Flash; I don't think he'll ever admit it himself, but _I'm_ grateful."

Artemis had the cocky smirk again. "No problem; I love a stationary target, anyway."

"Ken!" Kid Flash called out from the other side of the room, "Are we ready to go, or what?"

Ken nodded. "Okay, Team, let's go to school."

…

**Happy Harbor, 21:59 EDT**

Dr. Roquette had been less than happy to see the Team, though she did mention that they were still preferable to the "crazy, bomb-happy archer".

Once introductions had been made, Ken had Superboy, Miss Martian and Warhawk standing guard on the roof, while everyone else stayed close to the doctor. Once everyone was in place, Miss Martian established a psychic link to the entire Team, plus Roquette.

{Everyone online?} Miss Martian asked.

Everyone gave a simple 'yes', save for Artemis, who looked at her hands as if seeing them for the first time.

{Ugh, this is _weird_,} she commented.

{And distracting,} Roquette snapped as she typed away at a computer, {Coding a distributed algorithm virus on a kiddy-computer with less RAM than a wristwatch is hard enough, now I have to hear teen-think in my skull? I'm starting to think that psychotic archer was a better choice!}

{Lady, do you always complain when someone tries to help you?} Kid Flash asked, as he chewed on an energy-bar.

{Pot, kettle,} Artemis said, gesturing from Roquette to Kid Flash, {Have you met?}

{Hey!} Kid Flash glared at her, {I don't need attitude from the newbie!}

{I'm not a newbie,} Artemis snapped, standing up, {I've been doing this a lot longer than you think I have!}

{Fate of the world at stake here!} Roquette shouted, throwing up her hands in exasperation.

{She started it!} Kid Flash said.

Artemis rolled her eyes before turning her head towards Ken. {How about I go outside with Miss Martian, Superboy and Warhawk and patrol the perimeter?}

Ken nodded. {Good idea; we could use an extra pair of eyes out there anyway.}

After the archer left, Robin noticed Starfire rubbing her temples. {You all right?}

{I am well,} she replied, {I am just unused to so many voices in my mind. M'gann, I mean, Miss Martian has communicated with me telepathically in the past, but with so many other people… it is a little overwhelming.}

{Don't worry,} Robin said with a smile, {we'll get you whelmed soon enough.}

While Starfire looked confused from Robin's phrase, the Boy Wonder sent Kid Flash a mild glare.

{You might want to cut her some slack; it _was_ her arrow that saved your butt against Amazo-2, after all.}

{What? No way, I thought we were looking for someone who also had shadow-powers, right?} Kid Flash asked.

Robin shook his head. {Not so much; turns out that there were _two_ people that night.}

Kid Flash huffed. {Well, still not gonna give her the satisfaction.}

{You know, I can _still_ hear you?} Artemis' voice echoed in their minds as she headed for the roof.

Kid Flash groaned out loud, while Robin, Ken and Starfire held back laughter. Roquette, on the other hand, appeared to be strangling the air in front of her.

{Couldn't get the Justice League,} she complained.

Ken walked up to her, his face completely serious now.

{Even if your virus works, it won't do much good if we don't know where the weapon is. Can you track it?}

{My Utility-Fog is _not_ a weapon,} Roquette snapped fiercely, {It's science—_brilliant_ science—and of course, I can track it, but I'd have to go online. I might as well rent a billboard with this address and the words 'assassinate me' written on it.}

Ken placed a calming hand on her shoulder, gently turning her around to look him in the eye.

{We _will_ keep you safe.}

What Ken never realized was that he had inherited more than his father's face and some of his powers; he had also inherited the ability to make people naturally believe in him. It was because of that charisma, and the look of absolute certainty in his eyes, that Roquette found herself believing him. She nodded, turned back to her computer and typing in a few keys; a few seconds later, a new window popped up on the screen.

{Tracking The Fog now.}

…

While the tracking program did its work, the four teammates outside were on high alert; they had been alerted that there was a good chance that the Shadows would be coming after Roquette now, and it wouldn't be fun when they showed up.

Superboy's keen hearing caught the sound of rustling branches in the trees surrounding the school, but didn't see anything. Opting for a better vantage point, he jumped to the top of the school, where Warhawk was waiting with Ship, in his normal form, at his feet.

{Problem?} the Thanagarian asked.

Superboy shrugged, then reached down to pat Ship on the head. {Heard a noise, couldn't see the source. Thought I'd get a better view up here.}

Warhawk shook his head. {I haven't seen anything so much as twitch.}

Superboy smirked and tapped the side of his head. {You don't have eyes like mine. I'll be right back; gotta check the other side of the school.}

After getting a nod from Warhawk, Superboy jumped another fifty feet, landing easily next to Miss Martian and Artemis. The two girls nodded, signaling that the area was clear; wordlessly, Superboy resumed his patrol.

{Hmm,} Artemis said, watching Superboy leave, {that boy.}

The clone in question turned around briefly, raising an eyebrow, before moving on.

{He can hear you!} Miss Martian said, annoyed, {We can _all_ hear you!}

{Oh, I _know_,} Artemis said, much to the Martian's irritation.

{Miss Martian,} Ken's voice echoed in their minds, ending any further confrontation, {Doctor Roquette has found The Fog; extend your telepathic scan of the area to cover for Superboy while he, Robin and Starfire take Ship and go after it.}

A few seconds later, Ship flew down to the ground and opened his hatch, allowing the three heroes to board, then took off.

Miss Martian, Warhawk and Artemis resumed their patrols, but none of them noticed that they were being watched by several of the most skilled assassins in the League of Shadows. Those assassins weren't worried by the Martian finding them with her telepathy; they had been trained to mask their thoughts, in case of this very situation.

Not that Miss Martian was doing the best job right now, despite Ken's orders; she was too busy being mad at Artemis.

{You embarrassed Superboy!} Miss Martian snapped.

Artemis shrugged. {I didn't hear _him_ say anything.}

{Must you challenge everyone?} Miss Martian demanded.

{Where I come from,} Artemis responded, her tone deadly serious, {that's how you survive.}

Neither of them noticed the lithe figure that flipped over the fence next to them and entered the school.

…

Inside the building, Kid Flash stood guard at the entrance to the computer lab; his eyes caught a shadow moving in a hallway and, true to form, he dashed after it. He followed the shadow to the school's indoor pool, and headlong into a mess of marbles that had been laid out just for him.

He barely had time to see a black boot, before it kicked him in the face, and then everything went black.

Satisfied that the hero was unconscious, the assassin known as Cheshire rolled him into the pool, certain that he'd drown. Not that she cared either way, since he wasn't her target; that was past the post that Kid Flash had abandoned.

Silent as a shadow, Cheshire made her way to the computer lab; once she saw Roquette, she hurled a shuriken, which would barely register to a human eye, the dulled metal blending in with the dark as it made its way to…

_Tink!_

Behind her mask, modeled after the creature she took her name from, Cheshire's eyes widened as a blond-haired boy in black clothes moved at impossible speeds and then deflected the shuriken… _with his bare hands_!

Convinced that it must have been a fluke, or that that one shuriken was flawed somehow, she hurled several more, all of which were either deflected by the boy's palms or bounced off of him.

Still, Cheshire wasn't in the League of Shadows for being easily discouraged.

"Superhuman durability," she said in a malicious tone, drawing a pair of Sais and charging at him.

Ken, for his part, was impressed, and a little unnerved; even with his hearing, he had barely heard the assassin approach! Now, he was being attacked by a slender woman, whose face was covered by a white mask with red stripes, a bushy mane of black hair, wearing thigh-length boots and a short, green robe that only had a sleeve on the left side. Her right arm was instead covered by formfitting armor.

Cheshire stabbed downward with one Sais, aiming for Ken's thigh; to her surprise, the blade snapped. That shouldn't have happened; that metal had been rated for someone with durability comparable to Wonder Woman! Her surprise made her hesitate for half a second; that was all the time Ken needed to kick her legs out from under her.

As she fell, Cheshire hurled her remaining Sais at Roquette; Ken pointed one hand at the doctor, and a bubble of green Mana placed itself between the weapon and its target.

_He has energy-powers, too!? _Cheshire asked herself.

Ken wasn't taking any chances; this assassin was incredibly dangerous, and if she had friends, then he was in trouble, especially if they were as good as she was.

{Miss Martian, Warhawk, Artemis, Kid Flash, get over here!} he shouted into the psychic link, {Roquette and I are under attack!}

{On our way!} Artemis replied, dashing through the hallway on foot, while the two aliens flew above her.

Detecting something wrong, Miss Martian made a sharp left-turn and found Kid Flash floating in the school's pool. She quickly levitated him out of the water and began performing CPR.

Meanwhile, Ken was forced to divert his attention again, creating another Mana-shield around Roquette as Cheshire kept up a barrage of shuriken.

"Can't seem to decide whether to attack or defend, hmm?" Cheshire taunted, "I hate it when I don't have a man's full attention."

"You're not my type," Ken shot back, then fired a stream of Mana from his eyes, forcing Cheshire to backpedal, "Besides, I'm just distracting you."

The assassin barely had time to duck as an arrow whizzed over her head, accidentally hitting Ken in the chest, not that it hurt him. Cheshire whirled around to see Artemis, already aiming another arrow at her; behind her, Warhawk's gauntlets crackled with energy.

"Don't. Move," the archer ordered, as Ken stepped in front of Roquette protectively.

Cheshire chuckled and drew a collapsible sword, "_Now_ things are getting interesting."

The assassin was immediately put on the defensive; Artemis kept up a barrage of arrows on one side, while Ken fired bolts of Mana at another. Knowing that her shuriken couldn't hurt Ken, Cheshire instead threw them at Artemis, but Warhawk was there, deflecting them off of his Nth-Metal armor.

When Miss Martian and a recovered Kid Flash entered the room, Cheshire knew her chances had just gone from slim to none.

"Maybe it's a little too interesting," she said, dropping a smoke bomb on the ground.

Ken stayed close to Roquette, in case the assassin used the diversion to finish her mission, but Kid Flash wasn't so restrained. He charged through the smoke, but Cheshire was already gone; instead, he collided bodily with Artemis, then quickly backed up.

"Is… is she gone?" Roquette asked shakily; Ken quickly scanned the room with his X-ray vision, but confirmed that the assassin was gone. The scientist then replaced her fear with anger.

"She's getting away! You're letting her go!"

"So she might draw one or more of us away, leaving you unprotected?" Warhawk pointed out, shutting the doctor up.

"This is all _your_ fault!" Kid Flash raged at Artemis, "You were on perimeter! How did that Shadow get in?"

Artemis narrowed her eyes, but Miss Martian cut in before the archer could speak. "That's not really fair; _I_ was outside too."

"Outside… being distracted by _her_!" Kid Flash said, refusing to cut Artemis any slack; then his tone changed to a nicer one.

"Besides, I can't stay mad at you," he smiled, {You gave me mouth-to-mouth.}

{We _heard_ that!} everyone else yelled, reminding the speedster that the psychic link was still active.

"Dang it!"

While Kid Flash sulked, Miss Martian smiled at Artemis. "I didn't do half as well on my first mission, and I know you can't have been Green Arrow's sidekick for long."

Not sure if that was a backhanded compliment, Ken butted in before another argument could develop.

"Focus, people; the Shadows tried once and failed, which means they're gonna try again."

A beeping noise drew everyone's attention to Ken's communicator, which he activated.

"_Robin to Ken 10," _Robin said urgently, _"We tracked The Fog to Philadelphia, but we were too late; the Shadows hit the STAR Labs that was based here. There's nothing left; The Fog completely leveled the building, and now all of their cutting-edge research and tech is in the hands of the enemy!_

"_So, what's our next move?"_

Ken looked over at Roquette, who was starting to compose herself. "Scan for The Fog again; we need to find it before it hits another target."

He looked to the rest of the Team. "We're moving the doctor."

…

The Team relocated to a small boat-rental near the ocean. Artemis and Kid Flash guarded Roquette while she worked; Ken, Miss Martian and Warhawk remained outside, patrolling the perimeter.

Not liking the tense waiting, Artemis had begun pacing behind Roquette, only to stop when she felt eyes on her. She glanced up and saw the dark look on Kid Flash's face, then returned the expression with equal venom.

{Stop it,} Ken's voice echoed in their minds.

{What!?} both asked at once.

{I can practically hear you glaring at each other, both through the link and with my super-hearing,} there was a pause, and the three heroes in the building would swear that Ken was grinning, {Look, I know you two want to make out, but save it for after the mission.}

The faces of the speedster and the archer turned interesting shades of red as they sputtered denials, while Roquette snorted in amusement.

Outside, Ken allowed himself to pat himself on the back for defusing the tension, then called out loud.

"Warhawk! Swing to the north! Miss Martian, remain camouflaged and patrol the south! I'll take the west area!"

High above him, Warhawk began flying north; Ken glanced up for only a moment, before hearing a sound behind him. Faster than he could react, a net of red, sticky webbing surrounded him, momentarily trapping him in place, before a massive hook launched forward, catching him the stomach and sending him crashing through a parked van. Ken fell to the ground, groaned once, then lay still.

Cheshire stepped over the unconscious hero. "Guess he just needed a little more brute force. Okay, boys, we need to take out the target before the Martian and the hawk comes back."

Her two companion nodded. Black Spider was a slender man wearing a tight, black outfit, with large reflective goggles covering his eyes. Hook was a giant of a man, wearing a long, ragged coat over his bare chest; his right arm was replaced by a huge prosthetic, which ended with a metal hook that could be launched and retracted by a thick chain.

Any one of them was a lethal opponent, but together, they were a flawless killing-machine.

Black Spider entered the building first, kicking down the door and crouching low; Kid Flash tried to hit him, but the assassin nimbly flipped up to the ceiling and stuck there. He shot his webbing from his gauntlets, but Kid Flash dodged, then picked up and hurled a trashcan at the assassin; Black Spider avoided the attack, then dropped down to engage the speedster in hand-to-hand.

Artemis aimed an arrow at the spider-themed villain, but the sound of breaking glass behind her made her turn. Hook had crashed through the window behind her, then used his namesake to bring a bench between him and Artemis' arrow. The archer kept up a barrage of arrows as she addressed Roquette.

"Don't stop working," she said, not taking her eyes off of Hook.

As Roquette went back to typing, Cheshire silently opened the window on the other side of the building and took aim at the scientist with a crossbow. She fired, but a bench, seemingly moving on its own, placed itself between the arrow and its target. Cheshire snarled as she recognized telekinesis.

"The Martian is here! It's now or never!"

Black Spider punched Kid Flash in the gut, winding him for a moment, then used his webbing to drag the floating bench out of the way. Her path unobstructed, Cheshire jumped down in front of Roquette; Artemis tried to shoot the assassin, but a massive hook hit her in the chest, knocking her down. Roquette herself tried to get away, but Cheshire was faster, kicking the blond woman in the back and knocking her to the floor.

As Cheshire raised a Sais to kill the doctor, Roquette's head suddenly twisted one hundred and eighty degrees, while her skin changed to bright green; Miss Martian smiled triumphantly at the success of the Team's ruse.

Cheshire snarled again. "We've been duped!"

Unbeknownst to the assassins, Warhawk had taken Roquette to a small internet café, and Ken had joined them after pretending to be unconscious.

"Well?" Warhawk asked Roquette, who was typing furiously on a computer.

"I've almost got it!" she said.

…

**Philadelphia, 23:45 EDT**

Ship followed The Fog's signal to its next target, and when Robin saw it, he felt dread forming in the pit of his stomach.

"The next target is a WayneTech facility," he said, "In theory, its systems' software could be used to hack the…"

"The what?" Superboy asked when Robin trailed off.

"Doesn't matter," Robin said, "but what does matter is that WayneTech operates with a twenty-four-hour workforce; we'll never get everyone out in time!"

"Then we must stop this Fog before it can hurt anyone!" Starfire declared

…

**Happy Harbor**

"You'll never find Doctor Roquette!" Miss Martian declared as she shapeshifted back to her normal form.

"Never is such a long time," Cheshire said, then turned to Hook, "Pursuing target; keep them busy!"

While Hook kept Miss Martian at bay, Artemis had recovered just as Cheshire ran out of the building. She quickly got up and ran after her.

"Pursuing their leader!" she called out as she ran past Kid Flash, "Take the rest down!"

Kid Flash punched Black Spider in the face before turning to glare at her. "You are _so_ not the boss of me!"

"Just do it!" Artemis yelled over her shoulder

Outside, Cheshire stopped where she had left Ken and noted that he was no longer on the ground… or in the area at all, for that matter.

"Oh, I do _not_ like being played."

She tapped the side of her mask, and the black, non-reflective lenses suddenly began to glow orange; now she was able to see the residual heat-signatures of Ken's footprints, and followed them. She only got a short distance when she heard a whistling noise behind her; she quickly pivoted on one foot and kicked an incoming arrow out of the way.

"I was hoping it would be you," she said to Artemis, who was reading another arrow, but by then, Cheshire was leaping up to the nearest rooftop.

Not wanting to lose her, Artemis ran after her, occasionally firing arrows, but all missed. Finally, Cheshire stopped when an arrow hit the chimney in front of her; before she could react, a purple gas hissed out of the arrow, making her cough and fall limply to the ground.

Artemis reached the fallen assassin with another arrow ready; she warily circled Cheshire, then moved in closer to secure her. As soon as she was close enough, a still-conscious Cheshire kicked out, knocking Artemis down .

"The mask has built-in filters," Cheshire said smugly.

Artemis scowled, dropping her bow in favor of using her fists and feet; despite her skills, however, Cheshire was better, easily catching her in an arm-lock.

"Better luck next time, kid," Cheshire said, before knocking her out.

…

Ken's eyes briefly glowed green as he detected the Mana of another living being.

"We have company," he warned Warhawk and Roquette.

"Uploading now!" the doctor said triumphantly, before scowling at Ken, "And by the way, you said you'd protect me!"

Hearing a noise, Ken spun around and fired a bolt of lightning at the ceiling; Cheshire barely dodged the attack and landed between Ken and Warhawk.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" the assassin asked as she drew her sword.

"Warhawk, keep Roquette safe," Ken said, "I've got this."

Warhawk nodded and moved the doctor protectively behind his wings, while Ken and Cheshire circled each other like wolves.

While Ken kept her busy, Cheshire never noticed Roquette's virus being downloaded.

…

**Philadelphia**

"It's downloading!" Robin said, looking at his holo-computer, as Ship opened the rear hatch to let the heroes out.

Superboy looked out at the ground and saw a van drive up to the WayneTech building; the vehicle opened up to reveal a red-robed man wearing a silver, one-eyed helmet. Next to him was a large container, which the clone recognized as the deployment mechanism for The Fog.

"Don't need it!" Superboy said, then jumped out of Ship.

"Superboy!" Robin called out after him.

The red-robed man, a member of the Shadows called Professor Ojo, saw the clone diving towards him, and fired a powerful energy-beam from his helmet, sending Superboy crashing to the ground. Ojo then released a dull-gray cloud from the container, which then headed for the WayneTech building.

"No!" Robin glanced at Starfire, who looked slightly uncertain. "Help Superboy, Ship and I will stop The Fog!"

Starfire nodded and flew down, bombarding the area around Ojo with her energy-blasts, which she called starbolts. While she did so, Robin swung down to the entrance of the building; Ship returned to his normal form and clung to the Boy Wonder's shoulders.

Inside, the security guard was shocked to see a metallic cloud literally eat its way through the doors and fly past him, followed next by Robin with a green-and-black, slug-like thing. He knew that Robin was a hero, but his training took over at the sight of an unauthorized person in the building. He hit the alarm, which began lowering a large gate in Robin's path.

"WayneTech override, JT-7!" Robin yelled, stopping the gate and allowing him to slide under it.

…

**Happy Harbor**

Miss Martian narrowly dodged another attack from Hook, before looking over at her teammate.

{Kid Flash, we need to end this, now!}

The speedster ducked under a burst of webbing, then grinned at the Martian. {It's like you read my mind, beautiful.}

Kid Flash scowled when Black Spider's webbing finally hit him, but then he got an idea; he spun in place, wrapping the web around himself, but since it was still connected to the assassin, it drew him in. It went by too quickly for Black Spider to react; he was pulled forward at incredible speeds, only to have his momentum halted by a pair of booted feet to his face, instantly and painfully knocking him out.

Miss Martian, on the other hand, simply hovered in place, while Hook launched his namesake at her. She easily caught the hook with her telekinesis, then hurled it back, striking its owner right between the eyes and into la-la land.

"Woo!" she cheered, "I got mine!"

"Great," Kid Flash said, slightly dizzy from the spinning and thoroughly tied-up, "Uh, a little help?"

…

**Philadelphia**

The Fog was eating its way through the WayneTech building, while panicked employees ran for their lives. Desperately, Robin and Ship searched for a computer that they could use to upload the virus.

Finally, they made their way to the cafeteria, where the cashier stood in shock, as The Fog ate the ceiling above her. Robin pulled a cord from his glove and plugged it into the computer.

"Ship, interface with it! I can't let any security slow this down!" while Ship merged with the computer, Robin began muttering to himself, "Please be connected to the mainframe, please be connected to the mainframe…"

…

**Happy Harbor**

Ken and Cheshire found themselves at a stalemate. The assassin couldn't hurt Ken, and Ken couldn't hit her, despite his superior speed. They both knew, however, that Ken could do this all night, while Cheshire would eventually tire and make a mistake. Before that happened, though, a beeping noise caught everyone's attention.

"It's done!" Roquette shouted excitedly, but froze when Cheshire focused on her.

"So, you finished the virus, hmm?" Cheshire seemed to be smiling behind her mask, "I suppose that this eliminates the reason for your… elimination. I _could_ still kill you, but my orders are clear: you live to program another day. After all, Doctor, the Shadows may find another use for you."

Ken tried charging her again, but Cheshire dropped another smoke bomb and disappeared.

"I'm starting to dislike her," he said offhandedly.

…

**Philadelphia**

As soon as Robin uploaded the virus, The Fog began to die. It was too small to see, but each microscopic robot exploded in spectacular fashion; to everyone else's eyes, however, it looked like a cloud of dust fell to the ground as the building stopped shaking.

"Yes!" Robin crowed, as Ship withdrew from the computer and jumped onto his shoulder. "The infiltrators have been _out_filtrated!"

"Ship, ship!" Ship said urgently.

"Right," Robin said, running for the nearest window, "Gotta see how Star and Superboy are doing."

"Ship?" Ship asked, almost slyly.

"What, I can't give her a nickname?" Robin asked defensively.

Ship only rolled his eye.

…

Outside, Professor Ojo scowled as the Shadows' plans literally turned to dust. He consoled himself with the fact that he would at least be killing two young heroes today.

"I'll block the shot," Superboy whispered to Starfire, "You take him down."

Starfire nodded. "Agreed."

Ojo fired his helmet-laser again, but Superboy held his ground, blocking the shot with his arms. The glare caused by the red beam distracted the assassin, allowing Starfire to quickly fly behind him and kick the man in the kidneys. Stunned and in pain, Ojo fell to his knees; Superboy took the opportunity to grab the front of his helmet and partially crush it, preventing him from using his laser again.

"We stopped the bad guy, Robin stopped The Fog," Superboy smirked, "I'm feeling the aster."

Starfire tilted her head, confused. "What is this 'aster'?"

…

**Happy Harbor**

Cheshire ran through the dark alley, hoping to get away before Ken's super-senses could find her again. She didn't want to admit it, but she was tired from that fight, and didn't know how much she had left in her.

Distracted by her thoughts and her senses dulled by fatigue, the assassin didn't see the explosive arrows hit the ground until they were right in front of her. The explosives were minor, not meant for killing anyone, but four at once were certainly painful and more than enough to send Cheshire sprawling, her mask skittering across the sidewalk. She glanced up to see Artemis standing over her, an arrow aimed at her face.

"Don't move a muscle," the archer snarled.

"Wow," Cheshire said sarcastically, hands over her head as she slowly got up, "I am _completely_ at your mercy."

Artemis finally got a good look at Cheshire's face and gasped, almost lowering her bow in shock. "You…"

"I suppose that now you bring me to justice," Cheshire said with a cruel smile, "Your new friends will interrogate me. I wonder if your position is secure-enough to survive them learning _everything_ I know."

Artemis kept her arrow trained on Cheshire for a moment longer, then lowered it.

Cheshire smirked. "Didn't think so.

"So, like the Cheshire Cat, I'll just disappear."

A smoke bomb later, and the assassin was gone, her fallen mask the only evidence that she was ever there.

A few seconds later, Ken, Warhawk, Miss Martian, Kid Flash and Roquette arrived, ready to fight but without a target.

"Did Cheshire get away?" Ken asked.

Artemis nodded, while Kid Flash sneered. "From _you_? Oh, big surprise; by the way, _we_ caught ours."

"KF, lay off," Ken said, annoyed with the speedster's attitude, "I couldn't take her down either, but Doctor Roquette is safe and I just got word from Robin that The Fog was stopped. I'd say that we did good work today. _All _of us."

Warhawk and Miss Martian grinned, and even Artemis smiled a little. Kid Flash tried to scowl, but couldn't, especially when he spotted Cheshire's mask on the ground.

"Cool!" he said, holding the mask up, "Souvenir!"

"You knocked off her mask?" Warhawk looked at Artemis. "Did you see her face? It'd make tracking her down easier."

Artemis shook her head. "It was dark… I couldn't see."

Ken shrugged. "No problem, that would have just been a bonus. So… who's up for smoothies for a job well done?"

…

**Mount Justice, August 9, 00:08 EDT**

After the Team regrouped and dropped off the captured assassins, they and Doctor Roquette headed to the Cave, where the League was waiting. They were quickly debriefed and then allowed some time to wind down before heading home, while the League discussed Roquette's future.

"The Shadows will still come after you," Batman told her.

"I know," Roquette shivered, "They could probably find me anywhere. I'm not safe, even with you."

Ben tapped his bearded chin in thought. "What if there was a place that you could go that no one could reach you?"

"That would be wonderful," Roquette said sarcastically, "but I don't think that such a place exists on Earth."

"Maybe not _this _Earth," Ben said, sending Batman and Verdona a questioning look. The Dark Knight and the Anodite glanced at each other, then nodded.

"What are you talking about?" Roquette asked.

"I'm actually not from this Earth," Ben explained, "I'm from another universe entirely. I lived on a different Earth, where the League of Shadows doesn't exist. Even if they did, they wouldn't know who you are."

Roquette thought about it. "Well, it's not like I have family or close friends to tie me down… but I still want to work on my projects!"

"Actually, I think I know someone who would enjoy working with someone of your talents… and attitude," Ben said with a knowing smile, before looking at Verdona. "Can you arrange it?"

Verdona grinned. "Certainly; Azmuth loves surrounding himself with smart people. Just give me a day to explain the situation."

With a snap of her fingers, Verdona disappeared in a flash of violet light. Ben turned back to Roquette.

"Forget what I said about going to a different Earth, then; looks like you're going to Galvan-2!"

"Uh…" was all Roquette could manage before Batman stepped in front of her.

"We'll take you to the Watchtower until tomorrow; a team of Leaguers will pick up anything you need from your home."

Roquette nodded and began heading towards the teleporters; before she did, however, she turned back to Ben.

"That boy," she said, looking at the distant form of Ken, who was laughing with the rest of the Team, "He's your son, right?"

Ben nodded.

"Well, you should be proud of him."

"Thanks," Ben said with a smile, "I already am."

…

"So wait, you hit him in the kidneys?" Robin asked, as Starfire and Superboy told them about their fight with Ojo, "Oh man, I wish I'd seen that!"

A few of the other members of the Team nodded as they drank their smoothies; Ken had been thrilled to find out that a smoothie-machine had been installed in the Cave a couple of days ago, though everyone else failed to show the same level of enthusiasm.

Finishing his smoothie, Ken walked up to the two newest members of the Team. "I know I welcomed you both already, but after your first mission with us, I think it bears repeating."

He shook their hands. "Welcome to the Team."

Miss Martian caught the other two girls in a quick hug. "This is great! We're like sisters now; I mean, I had twelve back on Mars, but trust me, it's not the same."

Starfire beamed, but Artemis only smiled weakly. "I… wouldn't know."

Warhawk elbowed a scowling Kid Flash in the side; the speedster reluctantly held out his hand to Artemis.

"Yeah, yeah… welcome."

This time, Artemis' smile was genuine as she shook his hand.

…

**Gotham City, 01:16 EDT**

A brief flash of light appeared, and then Artemis stretched her stiff muscles. She had chatted and socialized with the rest of the Team for almost an hour, before excusing herself to go home. What none of the others realized, however, was that her home wasn't in Star City with her mentor, but here, in Gotham.

Artemis was about to start walking, but the faintest of movements caught her eye; she spun around, drawing and aiming an arrow in one fluid movement.

"Step into the light!" she ordered, "Right now!"

The figure did as she said, revealing himself to be Red Arrow. "Nice move; almost made me believe that you _are _Green Arrow's niece. But we both know that you aren't."

Artemis didn't shoot an arrow, but she did shoot a glare as she lowered her bow as Red Arrow continued.

"Still, I'm sure GA and Bats have a reason for lying, so your cover is safe." He turned to leave, but stopped and sent a cold stare in the other archer's direction. "But I warn you: if you hurt those kids in any way… it'll be the last thing you ever do."

…

**Galvan-2, 24 Hours Later**

"That was… uncomfortable," Roquette said as she stepped through the violet portal and looked around the alien world in wonder.

"Oh, must you complain about everything?" Verdona said as she levitated a few suitcases behind her, "I hope Azmuth can put up with you better than I can… oh, speak of the devil!"

Heading towards them was a young-looking human girl with blond hair, while a tiny gray alien with large eyes sat on her shoulder.

"Hi, Verdona!" the girl said cheerfully, "How's Ben?"

"He's fine," Verdona said; she would have said more, but the alien on the girl's shoulder coughed, getting their attention.

"Is this the woman you told me about?" he asked in a gruff voice as he pointed at Roquette; after Verdona nodded, he turned to the doctor. "I am First Thinker Azmuth, of the Galvan, and this is my assistant, Unitrix…"

"My name is Eunice," the blond girl said in a long-suffering tone.

"No, it isn't," Azmuth shot back, then continued, "I've heard that you're an expert in nano-robotics, yes?"

Roquette nodded hesitantly, but Azmuth smirked.

"Well then, I think I have a project that you'll find quite intriguing."

This time, Roquette's eyes lit up as she smiled.

…

**Unknown Location**

The second-in-command of the League of Shadows, an elderly man called Sensei, bowed before the computer screen around him, the identities of the people they showed obscured by blinding light.

"Masters," the man said, "Before Ojo's capture, he transmitted the STAR Labs data you required, but the WayneTech intel… still eludes us."

"_Once again," _the only voice among his masters that Sensei recognized said, _"The young… heroes… interfere. It is fortunate, then, that we have an operative… on the inside."_

Sensei smiled cruelly.

**And there we go! Geez, this chapter was long, the longest by far for this story, even without the foreword and afterword, and that makes me happy! I love longer chapters!**

**So, some things to talk about:**

**Yes, the beginning of the chapter was based on a combination of Red vs. Blue and Young Justice Abridged. It was too funny to pass up.**

**I DO NOT OWN RED VS. BLUE, AND I DON'T OWN YOUNG JUSTICE ABRIDGED, THOUGH I'M PRETTY SURE THAT DC OWNS THE LATTER ANYWAY, SINCE IT STILL USES THEIR STUFF.**

**Victor Stone: for those of you who know who he is, don't say anything, but he'll be more important in Part 2. For now, he's Ken's best male friend outside of the Team.**

**Valerie Sage: my new OC! Some of you might figure out who she is, but if you do, once again, don't say anything. She'll have more importance in a few chapters, let's leave it at that.**

**Some of you might be wondering why I sent Roquette to live in Ben's universe. Well, I figured that Ben's universe should have some relevance earlier on than I did in Ben 10: Unlimited, and having her work with Azmuth seemed like a good fit.**

**I know I had Eunice look the same, but remember that she's the Unitrix; she probably wouldn't age anyway.**

**If you have any questions, send me a PM; otherwise, leave a review and get excited, because my next chapter is all-original!**

**Freedom is the right of all sentient muffins!**


	8. Nevermore

**BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. YOUNG JUSTICE DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY DEMON-GOPHER, ON THE OTHER HAND, DOES BELONG TO ME, AND HE PROTECTS MY OC'S FROM BEING TAKEN BY GNAWING ON THE TOES OF THOSE WHO WOULD STEAL THEM. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

**Hey, guys and gals! This is a very special chapter, because, other than the intro, it is my first totally original chapter, and not taken from an episode. Also, you won't be seeing the entire Team this chapter. Sorry if I left out someone you wanted to see, but that might be a recurring thing. There will be more chapters where the entire Team is present, than ones where they aren't, but consider yourselves warned, regardless.**

Unlimited Justice

Chapter 7

Nevermore

**San Francisco, August 10, 08:35 PDT**

Ken stretched as he came downstairs from his room, reveling in the fact that he had absolutely nothing to do. Between his normal duties as a hero, his role as leader of the Team, and schoolwork piled onto that, it was a rare day that he wasn't busy.

The only downside with having nothing to do, however, was having nothing to do. That was why he decided to wear his mission-outfit, just in case he got bored enough to go out on patrol. The only part of his outfit that he wasn't wearing was his jacket, which he hung over his chair in the dining room, while he went into the kitchen to make breakfast.

What he found when he got there, however, both amused and scared him. His sister, Jen, was sitting on the kitchen counter, a box of sugary cereal on her lap, which she was eating out of. Even a half-Kryptonian on sugar was a terrifying prospect, especially when she was only eleven years old.

"Morning, Ken!" Jen chirped.

"Good morning, Jen," Ken said warily, as he made his way around his sister to grab a muffin, "How much of that have you eaten?"

Jen shrugged. "Just a few handfuls-worth. I'm looking for the prize inside."

"Um, why don't you just use your X-ray vision?" Ken asked.

Again, she shrugged. "Because then I wouldn't have to eat the cereal, duh."

Eleven-year-old logic at its finest.

Rolling his eyes, Ken took his breakfast back to the table and began to eat. A few seconds later, he heard footsteps behind him, and then Jen was sitting on the table, her legs dangling over the side.

"You know, we have chairs," Ken pointed out.

"Chairs are evil," Jen declared, "I won't let them run my life."

"Since when are chairs evil?" Ken asked, amused with his sister's antics, and wondering whether this was the sugar talking or if she was just being an eleven-year-old.

"Since I decided that they were," Jen said authoritatively, then glared at the chair next to Ken's, "You won't make me depend on you! I'm a strong, independent woman who don't need no chair!"

"You're eleven," Ken pointed out, only to get kicked in the head, "Ow!"

"Jen, stop kicking your brother," Kara said as she walked downstairs, "and sit on the chairs; that's what they're there for."

Jen grumbled, but finally sat down next to Ken; her brother, on the other hand, only looked at his mother with a neutral expression.

Kara sighed; ever since the incident with the second Amazo, Ken had been less happy in his mother's presence. She knew that it was because of her attitude towards Superboy, and it wouldn't get better until she treated the clone better.

"I'm heading to the Watchtower," she said, hiding her sudden melancholy, "If I'm late, there's some stuff in the fridge for you two, all right?"

"Got it, Mom!" Jen said, waving enthusiastically; Ken gave a more subdued wave.

"Be safe," he said; Kara could tell that, even if he was upset with her, he still meant it.

That put a more sincere smile on her face as she was teleported to the Watchtower. Once the Tennyson matriarch was gone, Jen turned to her brother.

"Are you and Mom fighting about something?"

Ken sighed. "I'm just annoyed that she isn't treating Conner like family."

"Who's Conner?" Jen asked.

Ken smacked his forehead. "I can't believe I haven't introduced the two of you yet! Hang on, I'm going to make a call."

With a burst of super-speed, he dashed to the phone and dialed a number. After a few rings, Clark Kent picked up.

"_Hello, Kent residence, Clark speaking."_

"Hi, Uncle Clark," Ken said cheerfully, "How are you, Aunt Lois and Conner?"

"_We're fine, Ken," _Clark said, always happy to talk to his nephew, _"What's going on?"_

"Well, Mom and Dad are out of the house, and Jen and I have nothing scheduled. Do you think that Conner could meet us at the clubhouse? Oh, and since Jen doesn't have the password, do you think that you could let her in?"

That was all code for going to the Cave, and giving Jen permission to enter, which could only be given by a senior member of the League.

Clark sighed on the other end of the line. _"You know that your mom won't be happy about it."_

"I'm not hearing you say no," Ken said, knowing that he'd already won.

"_Fine, we'll be there in ten minutes, and then we'll fly you over."_

"See you soon, Uncle Clark!" Ken hung up, then turned to see his sister staring at him, her head tilted. "What?"

"Are we about to do something that Mom won't like?"

"Probably; do you care?"

Jen grinned. "Nope."

"Good, neither do I. Go upstairs and get in your mission-clothes, then meet me back here." Ken smiled. "You're about to meet our new cousin."

…

**Mount Justice, 11:45 EDT**

"_Recognized: Ken 10 B-01, guest Jen 10."_

As the siblings materialized, Jen groaned and held her stomach.

"You okay?" Ken asked.

"Too much sugar," Jen moaned, "Got bounced around by the teleport."

"And what did we learn?" Ken asked teasingly, until Jen kicked him in the shin. "Ow!"

"I learned that my big brother is a jerk," Jen said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"I see that you two are as loving as ever," Superman said, walking around the teleporter controls.

"Uncle Clark!" Jen squealed, running up to Superman, who picked her up and hugged her.

"Hey, Jen," Superman said with a smile, "How are you?"

"I'm fine; Mom doesn't know I'm here, so can you keep it a secret?" Jen then clapped a hand over her mouth, "I wasn't supposed to say that, was I?"

"No," Ken said, his own hand over his face, "No, you weren't."

Superman gently lowered Jen back to the ground, his face looking guilty for a moment, before he shrugged.

"Well, I won't tell her if you won't."

The siblings looked at each other and grinned, before high-fiving.

"Excuse me," a familiar voice called out, "I thought I heard both of my kids here, which is… okay, Jen, why are you here?"

"Busted," Jen hissed out of the corner of her mouth as Ben walked into the room. Their father looked from his daughter, and then to his son.

"If anyone asks, Jen was bored, Ken brought her to the Cave to show her around, and happened to meet Conner." Ken, Jen and Superman all nodded. "Good; Ken, I've been working on something for you, so come find me when you're done with the introductions."

"Got it, Dad." After Ben left, Ken turned to his sister. "I get the feeling that we're _not_ grounded."

Jen jumped up and down. "Hooray!"

"So, where's Conner?" Ken asked Superman, who pointed down a hallway.

"He's in the kitchen," he said, "along with Miss Martian, Warhawk and Artemis."

"Oh, cool," Ken said, then grinned at his sister, "You haven't met two of the newer members of the Team, either."

"Awesome!" Jen said with an equally-big smile.

"You guys have fun," Superman said, before stepping onto the teleporter and disappearing, leaving the siblings by themselves.

Ken led his sister to the Cave's kitchen, where the two of them found Miss Martian and Artemis cooking something—though, to be honest, it was more of Miss Martian cooking while Artemis watched—and Superboy was arm-wrestling with Warhawk. The latter was giving it his all, sweat pouring down his face, but Superboy seemed to be barely paying attention; in fact, he looked almost bored.

It was Artemis who noticed the new arrivals first, standing up and giving a half-wave. "Hey, Ken, who's that?"

All eyes turned to look at Jen, though Warhawk averted them when he yelped in pain, after Superboy decided to easily end the arm-wrestling match.

"Guys and gals, this is my sister," Ken said, "Jen 10."

"Hi!" Jen chirped.

Miss Martian was the first to move, flying forward and hugging the female half-Kryptonian tightly.

"Oh, you're so _cute_!" she gushed, "Can I keep her, Ken?"

"Only if you promise to feed her and take her out for walks every day," Ken replied, ignoring the glare Jen sent his way.

"Okay, you guys get to know my sister," Ken continued, "My dad needs to see me for something."

"See ya!" Jen said, then turned to Superboy as soon as her brother was gone. "So… you're my cousin?"

Superboy nodded hesitantly, and then found himself on the ground, Jen's arms wrapped around him.

"Cool!" Jen cried, "I've been wanting to meet you forever!"

…

Ken smiled as his super-hearing caught the exchange. He knew that Conner was still wary about meeting family members, and having Jen immediately accept him like that would mean a lot; now, if only the siblings' mother would do the same…

Ken shook off the thought; he knew that his mom could be stubborn about some things, but if everyone else in the Kent-Tennyson clan accepted Conner, she would eventually do the same. Ken's train of thought derailed when he reached the tech-lab in the Cave; it was a place where Robin or Kid Flash could analyze compounds and unknown chemicals, or where Artemis could construct more trick arrows. At the moment, the only person there was his father, transformed into Grey Matter.

"Hi, Dad," Ken said, "Jen is having fun with Conner, by the way. What did you need me for?"

"One moment," Grey Matter said, before a few sparks shot out of the tools he was using, "I'm almost done."

Ken waited patiently for a few more minutes, until Grey Matter hopped off the table he was using and transformed back into Ben.

"First, I'm glad that the two of them are getting along," Ben said, smiling, "What are they doing now?"

Ken tilted his head as he listened. "She's talking about how cool it is to have another member of the family… now she's asking about Artemis and Miss Martian, since she hasn't met them yet, either… I'm so glad that M'gann's cooking has improved, she just gave Jen a cookie that isn't made of lead…"

"I get it," Ben said, grinning widely, "But now I have something for you. Do you remember when you tried to use your Heatblast-powers to fly?"

Ken winced; a year ago, he had tried focusing his fire-powers through the bottom of his feet, and use them like rockets. The attempt had resulted in him burning his shoes off and setting fire to a tree; on top of that, he had only flailed around wildly, instead of flying.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ben said, then handed his son a box. "Try again, but this time, use these."

Curious, Ken opened the box, only to find a pair of shoes that looked exactly like his own, save for several indents on the bottom of each shoe.

"What's so special about these?" Ken asked.

"Well, unlike the last time you tried, these are made of the same Kryptonian nano-weave that the rest of your outfit is, so they won't be destroyed." Ben said, "And the indents focus your fire-powers into small jets, like the casings on the bottoms of rockets. Also, because they're self-repairing, you can burn holes in the shoes and they'll fix themselves in a few seconds."

Now a little excited, Ken replaced his shoes with the new ones, while Ben stepped back.

"So, now what?" Ken asked.

"Like I said, just focus your fire-powers through your feet," Ben said, "The shoes will do the rest."

Ken nodded and tapped into his fire-powers; he felt the warmth flow down the bones in his legs, reaching the bottoms of his feet. There was a _whoosh _noise, and suddenly, Ken was ten feet in the air!

"Oh, this is awesome!" Ken shouted; at first, he had been afraid that jets of fire would stretch down to the ground, but they ended only a few inches away from his feet.

After a few minutes of practice, Ken found that he could zip around the air almost as easily as Warhawk. Speaking of which, the Thanagarian in question entered the lab, along with Artemis, Miss Martian, Superboy and Jen, the latter of whom was sitting on the clone's shoulders, much to Ben's amusement.

"Hey Ken, Zatanna just showed up, said she wanted our help with—holy crap, Ken, you're flying!" Warhawk said, staring at the Team's leader.

"Hi, guys!" Ken waved from his position near the ceiling.

"Since when can you fly?" Superboy asked; he had felt a momentary fit of jealousy, but then he saw the fire under his cousin's feet and realized that it wasn't true Kryptonian flight.

"Since now!" Ken answered with a grin.

"Aw, now I can't lord that over him," Jen pouted.

"You can fly, too?" Artemis asked.

"Yeah, but not like Mom," Jen explained, "I have magnetic powers, and I can use that to manipulate my own electromagnetic field to fly."

To demonstrate, she hopped off of Superboy's shoulders and gently lifted into the air; a slight shimmer around her was the only evidence of her magnetic powers.

"So, you don't have the same powers as Ken?" Miss Martian asked.

"Well, we share the same Kryptonian powers," Ken told her, landing on the ground with only a slight stumble.

"I have magnetic powers, invisibility, size-changing, water-powers and plant-grenades," Jen said proudly.

"Plant-grenades?" Artemis repeated; Jen gestured to the red, seed-like earrings on her ears.

While Jen spoke to the other girls, Ken walked up to Warhawk.

"Sorry, did you say that Zatanna needed us for something?"

Warhawk nodded. "She just showed up, asking for help from people who had experience with, and I quote, 'working in the dark'."

Ken tapped his chin in thought. "Well, we might as well see what this is about; come on, Team, let's meet up with Zatanna."

Ken led his teammates, plus father and sister, to the briefing room, where they found a beautiful woman with long, black hair, wearing a female version of a magician's outfit, replacing pants with fishnet stockings.

"Glad KF isn't here," Warhawk muttered to Ken, who nodded.

Zatanna smiled at the group. "Hello, everyone; for those of you I haven't met before, I'm Zatanna."

"Hey, Z," Ben said from behind the Team.

"Hi, Ben," the sorceress said, then turned her attention back to the Team. "I was hoping I could get your help on something."

"Is this a mission?" Miss Martian asked.

Zatanna shook her head. "No, it isn't; otherwise, Batman would be involved, and the entire Team would be assembled. I just want some backup while I check something out."

"What about the rest of the League?" Artemis asked, having the sneaking suspicion that they weren't Zatanna's first choice of backup.

"I could have asked them," Zatanna said, "but I didn't, for two reasons. First, because I wanted to work alongside you guys, and second, because this job _is _connected to you."

Before anyone could ask more, Zatanna brought up a holographic projection of Amazo-2. "I assume you all remember this handsome devil?"

"Yeah, I remember him punching me," Ken said ruefully, "A lot."

"Well, do you remember when Superboy put his fist through the android's head, and he tried to get away?" when she received several nods, Zatanna continued, "He couldn't get away because of several shadows holding his feet down, right? After I heard that description, I did some research; it turns out that someone was using shadow-magic, a type of sorcery that borders on the dark, but isn't particularly good or evil. It's also rarely used, so it was easier to detect; once I started searching, I found the rough area where our mystery magic-user is hiding out. I was hoping that you guys could help me locate him or her."

"Why should we find this person?" Superboy asked, "What if they just want to be left alone?"

"If they do, then that's their choice," Zatanna said, "I'm just curious about who this person is; I don't want to recruit them unless they want to join the League… or the Team, if he or she is new."

"You know, there's another reason we should find this person," Ben said, looking concerned, "Professor Ivo was there during the fight with Amazo-2. He might have seen the shadow-magic being used, and wants revenge on the person who helped destroy his robot. It wouldn't be the first time a villain has done something like that."

Zatanna nodded. "That's another reason to find this person; if they're in danger, we need to help."

Ken looked at his teammates, then his father and sister; none of them looked like they were going to back out.

"I think we're all in."

"Wait, what about her?" Artemis asked, pointing at Jen, "She's a little kid!"

"She's been doing this for almost two years," Ben said, "She'll be fine. Besides, Zatanna and I will be going with you; between the eight of us, we shouldn't have a problem."

"Since this isn't a Team or League mission," Ken said, "I recommend that you be in charge, Dad."

Ben thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Only because I'm the most senior hero here. Now, come on, people; it's Hero Time!"

…

**Boston, 12:45 EDT**

The heroes teleported into an alley near downtown Boston. Zatanna had narrowed down the search to a group of abandoned warehouses nearby—a perfect place to hide if someone wanted to be alone.

"Everyone ready?" Ben, now transformed into Blitzwolfer, asked; after getting a series of nods, he looked at Miss Martian. "Link us up."

Everyone felt the same brief sense of vertigo, signaling that the link was up.

{This is weird,} Jen commented.

{Tell me about it,} Artemis said, {I'm still getting used to it.}

{Focus, people,} Ken said, then stopped and turned to Superboy when he heard a familiar sound. {Did you hear that?}

Superboy nodded. {Sounds like Ivo's robot monkeys.}

{Then we were right about Ivo wanting revenge!} Miss Martian exclaimed, {We have to find the magic-user before those robots do!}

Zatanna's eyes glowed with arcane energy, before the sorceress started moving. {This way! I've locked onto the shadow-magic!}

They only got a few meters towards the warehouses before a barrage of mini-rockets bombarded their location. Ken managed to keep them all safe with a dome of Mana, but the shield was cracked and weakened, both by the barrage and its own hasty construction.

{Since when do Ivo's monkeys have missiles?} Artemis asked, even as she readied an arrow.

{They don't,} Warhawk said, pointing up, {but it looks like his robot bugs do.}

Above them, a swarm of dog-sized robotic wasps buzzed overhead, while just as many MONQIs hovered right behind them. Like Ivo's MONQIs, they were black and green; in place of barbed stingers, the robots had mini-rockets.

"Well, well, well," Professor Ivo's voice rang out, "It seems I'm not the only one searching for someone in this place. I know that you younger heroes have seen my MONQIs, but I don't believe you've encountered my Weaponized Aerial Suppressor/Pursuers, have you?"

"WASPs," Blitzwolfer said out loud, shaking his furry head in exasperation, "Really, that isn't that clever."

To the heroes' satisfaction, Ivo growled. "Well, even if you don't think so, they're still going to kill you, as will my MONQIs and… oh, I forgot that I had one other surprise: my Mark 2 MONQIs!"

A crashing noise caught everyone's attention; with a mechanical roar, a large, black-and-green robotic gorilla broke through a brick wall. It was soon joined by a dozen others, each one staring at the heroes with unblinking mechanical eyes.

Superboy snarled. {I hate monkeys.}

{Ken, I want you and Zatanna to go after the magic-user,} Blitzwolfer said calmly, {Everyone else is with me; we'll handle Ivo and his robots.}

{You sure?} Zatanna asked; she might have been concerned about the magic-user, but she knew Ben and his children; she'd even been their babysitter when they were much younger.

{Positive, Z,} Blitzwolfer said, not taking his eyes off of the robots, {Now go!}

Ken and Zatanna dashed off, while the rest readied themselves.

{Jen, I want you, Miss Martian and Warhawk to take on the flyers,} Blitzwolfer said, {Try to force them down here; in the meantime, Superboy, Artemis and I will take on the apes.}

With a plan in mind, the heroes charged.

…

"Are you sure this is the place?" Ken asked as he and Zatanna entered the warehouse.

"Positive," Zatanna answered, "the shadow-magic is emanating so strongly, its user _has_ to be here!"

"Well, if you're sure, th—look out!" Ken jumped in front of the Leaguer, only to be hit by a flock of black birds, their outlines tinged in purple. Ken hit the ground with a grunt.

"Are you all right?" Zatanna asked, kneeling next to him to help him to his feet, "I know that Kryptonians have no resistance to magic, but…"

"Normally, I wouldn't, either," Ken told her, "My Mana-powers give me some resistance, though, so I'm okay. I think that was just a warning-shot anyway."

The inside of the warehouse was dark and gloomy, the windows long-since boarded up. The darkness didn't really bother either hero, though; Zatanna relied on her magic to track the other magic-user, and Ken could see in the dark. Still, Ken only barely caught the fluttering movement of a dark-blue cloak as its wearer moved past him.

"Hey, I'm not here to hurt you!" Ken said to the unknown figure, who had disappeared, "I'm trying to help keep Ivo's robots from attacking you!"

{Go to the upper level,} Zatanna said over the link, {I'll stay here, in case he or she tried to leave through the door.}

Ken nodded and walked up the rusted stairway. It was there that he discovered the meager possessions that the magic-user had; there was a sleeping-bag, a small sack of food and toiletries, a flashlight, and next to that, a battered and worn book.

Curious, Ken picked it up; it was a collection of works from Edgar Allan Poe, with one page bookmarked. Ken began to read aloud.

"_Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,_

_Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—_

_Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"_

_ Quoth the Raven…_

"Nevermore," a small voice said from behind Ken, interrupting him.

Ken turned to see a girl, around five feet tall. She had clearly seen better days; her skin was incredibly pale, which made the streaks of grime and dirt all the more apparent. Her dark hair was cut in a rough bob, probably done by herself. Her clothes consisted of a black bodysuit that covered every inch of her skin, save for her neck, hands and face, and a dark-blue cloak that extended down to her ankles. On her waist was a belt of dull gold, inset with rubies; on her forehead was a red gem that seemed to glow from within.

She stared up at Ken for a moment, then hesitantly held out her hand. Ken was confused by the action, until he realized that he was still holding the book. He held it out to her, and she snatched it from him, holding it like it was a lifeline.

"Edgar Allan Poe," Ken said in a calm tone, "Nice choice of authors. Personally, I'm more of a Tolkien fan, myself."

The girl looked down at the book, as if she was checking that it was undamaged, then back up at Ken.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Ken, though some people call me Ken 10 when I'm working." Ken glanced downstairs, then back at the girl. "Can my friend come up? I promise that neither of us will hurt you."

The girl looked like she wanted to flee, but nodded. A few seconds later, Zatanna came up and smiled warmly at the girl.

"Hi there," she said gently, "My name is Zatanna. I can use magic, just like you."

The girl looked at the older woman in surprise. "That's what I sensed before… I thought someone was searching for me with magic, but I thought you were hunting me."

"No, I wasn't hunting you," Zatanna assured her, "I was just curious about who was using shadow-magic. It's kind of rare."

The girl stared at the two for a moment longer, then relaxed slightly. "I believe you. You don't want to hurt me."

Ken and Zatanna looked at each other in surprise.

"That didn't take long," Ken commented.

The girl shrugged. "I… I can sense things. Emotions."

"You're an empath, too?" Zatanna asked.

The girl nodded.

"So, what's your name?" Ken asked, encouraged by the fact that the girl was talking to them.

"… Rachel," the girl said, "Rachel Roth.

"Now it's my turn: why are you here? What do you want with me?"

"Like I said before," Zatanna said, "I was curious about who was using shadow-magic, especially since you used it to help Ken and the Team."

"I'd like to say thanks for that," Ken added, "I don't think we would have won without your help… why _did_ you help, anyway?"

Rachel shrugged. "I was just passing through, and you and your friends were getting hurt. If that's all you wanted, then please leave," she sat down on her sleeping-bag and opened the book, "I want to be alone."

"That might be a problem," Zatanna said, "The guy who built that robot that you helped beat? Yeah, he wants to find you and get his revenge."

Rachel looked up, her eyes widening slightly. "Then I'll leave. I can be hard to find when I want to be."

"I think it's a little late for that," Ken said, his super-hearing picking up something. "Get down!"

Ken grabbed Zatanna and threw her at Rachel, then stood in front of them; a second later, one of the Mark 2 MONQIs crashed through the wall, only stopping when it smashed into Ken's back.

"You two all right?" Ken asked.

Both magic-users nodded. Ken helped Zatanna to her feet, then held out his hand to Rachel; the girl hesitated, before placing her smaller hand in his.

"I think hiding is out of the question," Ken said, "You don't have to fight if you don't want to, but at least stay close so that we can keep you safe."

Rachel nodded, and the three ran outside, where they saw complete chaos. Ben had turned into Fourarms, and was beating one of the remaining robo-apes into scrap, while Artemis shot the legs out from another, allowing Superboy to easily rip off its head.

In the sky, Jen was using her magnetic powers to gather up a dozen WASPs and crunch them into a ball, before hurling it at several others, crushing them. Miss Martian was doing the same with her telekinesis; in fact, she and Jen seemed to be competing to see who could crush the most that way. Warhawk was a better flyer than the MONQIs who were chasing him, easily getting the robots to bank into the ground or into buildings.

{What did we miss?} Ken asked, then looked up at Miss Martian, {By the way, can you patch Rachel here into the link, Miss M?}

A moment later, Miss Martian gave Ken a thumbs-up. {Done!}

{This is weird,} Rachel commented, though her face gave away no emotion; Ken noticed that she had brought up the hood of her cloak, shrouding most of her face in shadow. She then floated into the air and gracefully dodged a MONQI, before reaching out with one hand, which glowed with black fire.

"_Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"_

A bolt of shadowy energy lanced forward, blowing apart the offending robot.

{Nice shot,} Artemis complimented, before raising her bow, {You might want to move.}

Rachel did so, and an arrow flew by a second later, skewering the head of a flying WASP.

A pack of MONQIs charged Zatanna, who waved her hand idly.

"_Ekat sevlesruoy trapa!"_ she said, and the robots began disassembling themselves.

{Ken, can you help out in the air?} Fourarms asked as he smacked aside another MONQI, {We've got things covered here.}

Ken nodded and activated his fire-powers, rocketing into the air and punching a WASP.

{How does it feel to fly?} Jen asked.

Ken grinned. {I can see why you like doing it so much.}

{Think you can carry me for a minute?} Jen asked with a mischievous smile, {I've got an idea!}

With an inkling of what his sister wanted to do, Ken grabbed her under the arms, while Jen switched to her water-powers. Two powerful streams of water erupted from her palms, slicing through dozens of robots, as well as digging deep furrows in the asphalt.

{We've got to remember that for later,} Ken said, while Jen nodded in agreement.

{Things are almost done here,} Fourarms said, {Ken, Jen, Superboy: see if you can find Ivo. If he was close enough for us to hear him…}

{He might still be nearby,} Ken finished as he, his sister and his cousin used their X-ray vision to search for the maker of the robots.

"He's near," Rachel said out loud, drawing an odd look from Artemis.

"Where?" Ken asked, unable to see much, since most of the buildings had lead in them.

"Close," was all Rachel said, turning her hooded head back and forth, "Very close…"

It was then that the warehouse that Rachel had been living in exploded. In order to shield everyone from the blast, Ken created another dome of Mana, which was then reinforced by a second dome of shadow-magic, and then Ben, who had turned into Bloxx, and rebuilt his body into another dome.

The combined shields protected them all from the blast, but the warehouse was nothing but ash. Rachel approached the smoldering ruins, her expression downcast.

"Everything I owned was in there…" she mumbled to herself. Lost in her sadness, she didn't see the giant metal fist heading towards her until it was too late.

"Look out!" Ken grabbed her by the cloak and spun her out of harm's way, but doing so unbalanced him, putting himself in the way of the fist. It collided with him, sending him careening through several buildings.

"KEN!" Jen yelled, then glared at what had hit her brother.

Through the smoke of the destroyed warehouse, a truly giant robotic gorilla walked. It was like the Mark 2 MONQIs, but nearly eighty feet tall, and had a giant cannon mounted on each shoulder.

"_This, by the way, is my Mark 3 MONQI," _Ivo's voice called out from a speaker on the robot, _"And I must say, it is fun to kill you all with an extension of my own two hands!"_

{Ken will be fine,} Bloxx assured them, {Focus on Ivo!}

Superboy lunged at the robot, but was blasted back by one of the cannons, while Artemis fired a barrage of explosive arrows. The explosives only did a little damage, but it proved that the machine could be damaged at all.

Instead of using her magnetic powers, which would have been the smart thing to do, Jen started growing in size; a moment later, she was twenty feet tall. She charged forward, narrowly dodging a shot from a cannon, and punched the larger opponent in the knee. What Ivo didn't know, however, was that Jen's Kryptonian strength increased in proportion to her size; this meant that, at twenty feet tall, Jen was as strong as Superman.

The resulting blow shattered part of the knee, causing the robot to stumble; before Jen could do more damage, both cannons fired on her, driving her back.

Ben took his turn, transforming into NRG and blasting the robot back with concentrated radiation. This gave the others an opening; Superboy slammed his fists through the robot's ankle on its undamaged leg, while Jen went back to finishing what she'd started. Miss Martian had levitated herself and Artemis above the robot, while the archer rained explosive arrows on its head; every time the robot tried to shoot them with its cannons, Zatanna turned the energy-blasts into sparkles, confetti or doves.

…

The entire time, Rachel just stared at what had been her home, wandering through it aimlessly; she finally stopped when her foot caught on a hard object. She looked down to see that it was the charred remains of her book; she picked it up and held it for a moment, before staring back at the fight.

No one noticed her two eyes briefly turn to four, and then glow blood-red.

…

The fight turned against the heroes when Ivo's robot caught all of them in a powerful backhand, stunning or knocking them out.

"_Let's see you survive this, heroes!" _Ivo crowed, as the chest of the robot opened up, revealing hundreds of small missiles and firing them all at once.

As he saw them coming, NRG knew that he couldn't stop them all, and Zatanna was unconscious; in a moment of parental instinct, he threw himself over his daughter, who had shrunk down to her normal height.

Just before the missiles impacted, however, a wall of black energy appeared between them; instead of exploding against what looked like a barrier, the wall swallowed the rockets like black hole!

NRG looked around until he spotted Rachel standing near the robot, her arm outstretched; she waved her hand, and another black wall appeared behind the robot, and then spewed forth all of the missiles that had been swallowed!

The damaged robot couldn't withstand the barrage and was soon torn to pieces. Right before it did, however, the head opened up and a small pod ejected.

NRG and the other conscious heroes didn't pay attention to it; they were busy staring at Rachel in surprise, though they could only see the back of her cloak. When she turned to face them, her face was still concealed.

"What?" she asked.

"That… was incredible," Miss Martian said.

"Yes, it was," Zatanna said, who had recovered enough to see the robot explode, "You're a very powerful sorceress, do you know that?"

Rachel seemed to shrink in on herself, obviously uncomfortable with the praise and attention, but before anyone could say anything else, a clattering noise rang out, followed by panicked yells. Everyone turned to see Ken walk around the corner, a slightly battered and very annoyed Professor Ivo held up in one hand.

"Someone lose this?" Ken asked.

…

**Mount Justice, 18:30 EDT**

After Ivo had been handed to the authorities, Rachel had been convinced to go with Ben, Zatanna and the Team back to the Cave. Batman had been waiting, took one look at the battered and dirtied condition of everyone present, and demanded an explanation.

Ben took care of that, while everyone else got cleaned up, including Rachel. For a while afterwards, the younger heroes relaxed, though Rachel kept to herself and Ken was nowhere to be found. It was only later did he reappear, a bag in his hands, which he offered to Rachel, who had lowered her hood in order to let her hair dry after cleaning herself up.

"Think of this as an apology for having all your stuff blown up," Ken said to her, "And also a thank-you for saving my friends and family."

Rachel opened the bag to find a book, filled with works from Edgar Allan Poe; it was exactly like the one that had been destroyed, save for being in better condition. With wide eyes and trembling hands, Rachel accepted the gift.

"Th-thank you," she said softly.

Ken grinned. "Hey, it's the least I could do. Besides, you should really be thanking Warhawk—I paid for it with the money out of his wallet."

"Hey!" Warhawk said indignantly, though he didn't look too upset by it.

The others either laughed or, in Superboy's case, smiled. The good mood was broken by Batman, who strode into the room, Ben and Zatanna right behind him. The Dark Knight walked up to Rachel, towering over her.

"After what Ben and Zatanna have told me," he said, "I see no reason to ask you to join the Team, or join the superhero community. If you don't want to do it, none of us will force you."

"However," Zatanna said, brazenly pushing past Batman, "None of us can, in good conscience, let a young woman like you out alone on the streets. Doing something like that, especially after you helped us take down Ivo, would go against everything we stand for."

Rachel backed up slightly, a little uncomfortable with the older woman's enthusiasm. "What do you mean?"

Zatanna smiled. "Until we get you situated, I'd be more than willing to let you stay at my place. You'd have free food, some new clothes, a safe place to sleep… and a whole bunch of books to read, both for fun and for magic."

Inwardly, Zatanna smirked when Rachel's eyes widened slightly. She knew that the girl would accept when she was offered the one thing all magic-users craved: knowledge. If she had been expecting Rachel to immediately accept, however, she was disappointed.

"You… you don't know anything about me," Rachel said sadly, "If you did… I don't think you'd want to be so nice."

She turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and found herself looking up at Ken.

"You've been living alone for a long time," he said, "You helped us for no reason other than wanting to, and then you helped us again today. As far as I'm concerned, that's all I _need_ to know."

Nods from Jen and the other members of the Team signaled that they agreed. With a small smile, Rachel turned to Zatanna.

"And you're sure that I don't have to go out fighting people?"

Zatanna shook her head. "Not if you don't want to."

"But if you did," Jen said cheerfully, "You might want to pick a better name to use."

"Because 'Jen 10' or 'Ken 10' are such _great_ names," Rachel said sarcastically, getting snickers from everyone but Batman and the siblings, the latter of whom shot her a mock-glare.

"So does this mean that you accept?" Zatanna asked.

Rachel turned to look at the heroes closer to her own age, all of whom nodded encouragingly, then turned back to the older sorceress.

"Sure… until I get my own place."

"Agreed," Zatanna said, shaking Rachel's hand.

"I like her," Artemis said quietly to Warhawk, "She's very independent."

"There's independent, and then there's stubborn," Warhawk whispered back, "She was living in an abandoned warehouse, for crying out loud!"

Artemis only shrugged. "There are worse places to live."

"Still…" Rachel said thoughtfully, as Zatanna led her to the teleporters, "I suppose that, if I ever _did_ do the hero thing… I guess a different name wouldn't hurt."

"What would you choose?" Miss Martian asked.

Rachel held up her book as she started to disappear. "Call me… Raven."

**So, a couple of things happened.**

**First, Jen met Superboy. I like the idea of her treating Conner like another older brother. Plus, you all got to see her in action! Yay!**

**Second, Ken can fly now. I wanted him to have an issue actually using his Heatblast-powers to fly, so I had Ben create new shoes that helped focus his powers. Think of them like training-wheels. Alien, self-repairing, fireproof training-wheels…**

**Third… RAVEN! If anyone is wondering, I used a slightly altered version of her 'One Year Later' costume. I also decided that she would take her name from the Edgar Allan Poe poem (one of my personal favorites, actually). Speaking of which…**

**I DON'T OWN **_**THE RAVEN**_**, OR ANY WORKS BY EDGAR ALLAN POE. ONLY THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS DO.**

**Also, just so you know, Raven will be showing up from time to time, but will not be an official member of the Team for a while. Don't worry, it'll happen, you just need to be patient. And yes, she's going to be Zatanna's protégé for a while, because why not?**

**One more thing: Ivo's capture. They never really explain how they caught him in the show, so I made up how it happened. You're welcome.**

**I'll try to get more chapters of this story out soon, since apparently, writing is less important than school, but more important than breathing, but you should know that I will be taking a mini-break from this. Don't freak out, it's just so that I can finish the last two chapters of Outcast Blades. Since I'm so close to finishing that sucker, I thought I'd go for broke and do two chapters in a row. Once that's done, I'll have some time to focus solely on this one… until I get to work on a second story. Whether it will be a sequel to one of my finished works or a whole new story, I don't know yet.**

**It's the circle of muffins! *Insert Swahili stuff here*!**


	9. Denial

**BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. YOUNG JUSTICE DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY CHARACTERS DO, AS DO THEIR ACTIONS. I AM THE MASTER OF THEIR FATE… I'M GOING TO LAUGH MANIACALLY NOW.**

**Well, I finally finished Star Wars: Outcast Blades. Dang, it was hard—316 pages of mostly original work. Basically, I just finished a book. Go, me! Now that it's over, however, I get to spend some time focused on this story, until I work on the sequel, which should start sometime next week.**

Unlimited Justice, Part 1

Chapter 8

Denial

**New Orleans, July 27, 21:57 CDT**

Despite the revelry throughout the city, one man strode across New Orleans with a less celebratory mood. He was well-dressed, wearing a dark suit, supporting a slight limp with an ornate, gold-topped cane. He appeared middle-aged, though the only sign of that was a band of silver through his otherwise black hair, and the slight creases in his skin. Other than that, he was easily able to catch the eye of most women he passed by, though he paid them no mind.

Only one woman could ever interest him, and she had been gone for a long time.

The man's path eventually took him to a small shop, with a sign in the window that read 'Madame Xanadu'. The man pulled out a gold pocket watch, which held a photo of a young woman wearing a yellow blouse, her black hair pulled back into a long ponytail. With a sigh, the man entered the shop.

Inside, the main room was sparsely decorated, save for a large rug, a few seemingly-mystic charms, a few chairs and a table, upon which a crystal ball sat. After the man entered, a young woman, wearing the outfit one would expect of a fortune-teller, came in from a side-room.

"Welcome, _monsieur_," the woman said with a smile, "How can Madame Xanadu help you? Is there… someone to whom you wish to speak?" she glanced down at the ring on the man's hand. "Your wife, perhaps?"

The man's hand tightened around the pocket watch. "My Inza."

Madame Xanadu sat down at the table, still smiling. "Then Madame will make contact, if fate be kind."

The man sighed, even as he sat down. "But he so rarely is."

Before she got started, Xanadu coughed and held out her hand. The man looked sheepish.

"Oh, of course," he said, then handed her a roll of bills.

Once she had secreted the money away, Xanadu closed her eyes. A few seconds later, light began to shine, and her hair fluttered, as if from a breeze. The light-fixtures above began to sway, and the table lifted.

"Oh, my darling," Xanadu said in a different voice, "How I've missed you…" her eyes opened, revealing them to be glowing. "I'm so lonely here, and cold…"

The man stared at Xanadu for a moment, then burst out laughing. "HA! Is that the best you can do?"

The shaking and the lights stopped, and the table fell to the ground. Xanadu glared at the man.

"Imbecile! You've broken the spell! Your wife is forever lost!"

"That was supposed to be _my _wife?" the man snickered again, "Heck, my little spitfire would've kicked my can for throwing away good money on you."

Xanadu stood up and crossed her arms. "No refunds for nonbelievers."

The man leaned back in his chair. "I think we both know that _you're _the nonbeliever, Madame."

He gestured at the parted curtains behind him. "A wind-machine."

He lifted the tablecloth from the table. "Tire jacks under the table." He sighed. "A shame, too; you've the perfect aura for the work… and nothing would have pleased me more than to be reunited with my wife."

The man suddenly stiffened when he felt a hand grip his shoulder. He was jerked up and up around to face a man wearing tight, black pants and a white, unbuttoned shirt.

"Don't worry, Kent Nelson," the criminal called Abra Kadabra said, "You'll be with her soon enough."

In a flash of light, both men disappeared, leaving behind a frightened Madame Xanadu, who fled the room in terror. If she had stayed but a moment longer, she would have seen Ken Nelson's cane rise into the air with a golden aura, and then vanish.

…

**Mount Justice, August 19, 19:39 EDT**

When the Team wasn't on a mission, either with each other or their mentors, they could be found at the Cave. Sometimes, they were there to socialize, but most of the time, it was used for training purposes, like it was now.

"_Initiate combat training," _the computer said, as Ken and Conner stepped into the sparring ring.

Of all the members of the Team present, only Ken was wearing his mission-outfit, if only because it looked just like normal clothes. Conner, on the other hand, was wearing his civilian clothes, though he had removed his own black t-shirt, revealing his bare chest.

The cousins slowly circled each other for several seconds, then rushed each other. Conner threw the first punch, which Ken dodged with a back-flip, hoping to catch Conner on the chin with his feet, but the clone leaned back, avoiding it.

While the two sparred, several others were watching. M'gann, Koriand'r and Artemis were all in their own civilian clothes: M'gann wore her white blouse, red skirt and jacket, while Artemis—who had gotten a high-five from Ken, when he found out that, like him, her hero name was also her civilian name—wore tight pants, boots, brown jacket and white v-neck shirt. Koriand'r would always look out of place, what with her orange skin and all-green eyes, but she found that she enjoyed human styles of clothing; she wore tight, black pants and t-shirt, with a purple jacket and sandals.

"You know, M'gann," Artemis said, not taking her eyes off of the sparring cousins, "Ken is nice, responsible, handsome… you should _totally _ask him out!"

Knowing what the blond girl was trying to do, M'gann only smiled and shook her head. "He's like a big brother to me—besides, his great-grandmother is married to my uncle, so it would be kind of weird."

"Friend Artemis," Koriand'r said, "When you say 'ask him out', do you mean on a date? I am still learning human customs, so I am uncertain."

"That's what I mean, Kory," Artemis said, using a nickname that the Team had begun using for the orange-skinned alien, "Why, are you thinking of asking Ken out?"

Koriand'r shook her head. "Not friend Ken…"

Now both Artemis and M'gann raised an eyebrow.

"Are you thinking of asking someone else?" M'gann asked.

"I do not know how he feels," Koriand'r said, staring at her feet, "And I am afraid of how the Batman would feel…"

"You like _Jason_!?" Artemis' jaw dropped. "The partner of Batman!?"

Koriand'r nodded, a blush on her face. "Yesterday, he said that I was 'fun to be around', and mentioned a movie this weekend…"

"Did he ask you to go with him?" M'gann demanded.

Koriand'r shook her head. "The Kid Flash called him over right after he mentioned the movie."

"Speaking of Kid Flash," M'gann said to Artemis, getting back to the original topic, "You know who would make the cutest couple? You and Barry! You're so full of passion and, despite interrupting Jason and Kory's moment, Barry is so full of… of…"

"It?" Artemis finished, just as Barry entered the room, his arms full of snacks.

The three girls tried desperately not to laugh at the speedster.

Ken smirked as he and Conner sparred.

"I assume you heard that?" he whispered.

Conner nodded, even as he blocked a punch. "Good for Jason, I guess."

"What about you?" Ken asked, "I mean, do you know how many guys would _kill_ to have two girls who look _that_ good fighting over him?"

Conner shrugged. "Barry's one."

Ken stopped for a second, trying to hold in his laughter. That second was all Conner needed to get one leg behind Ken's and knock him down.

"Black Canary taught me that," he said proudly.

"The leg-sweep thing?" Ken asked, even as his cousin helped him up, "Or what you said to make me drop my guard?"

"The leg-sweep," Conner told him, "I learned lines like that from Barry. And before you ask, that was the _only_ thing I got from him."

The cousins snickered, just as Red Tornado entered the room, heading towards the exit.

"Hey, Red Tornado!" Barry greeted the android, "Do you have a mission for us?"

"_Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility," _Red Tornado replied.

Barry shrugged. "Yeah, well, the Batman's with the Robin, doing the 'Dynamic Duo' thing in Gotham, and Warhawk is with Hawkwoman and Green Lantern in New York, but _you're _headed somewhere, right? A hot date, or… a mission?"

"You know, we haven't done anything as a group in a while," Ken said as he put on his jacket, "We could at least lend a hand."

Red Tornado seemed to consider this for a moment, before bringing up a holographic screen on the computers, showing the image of a man in a dark suit.

"_This is Kent Nelson," _Red Tornado explained, _"He is a friend and former member of the Justice League—once known as Doctor Fate."_

Ken snapped his fingers. "I _knew _he looked familiar! It's been years since I've seen him, though."

"Is there anyone in the League you _don't _know?" Artemis asked.

Ken only smiled. "A couple, but Kent there is a big deal. He was Earth's Sorcerer Supreme; Doctor Fate was the most powerful magic-user on the planet!"

Barry rolled his eyes and whispered to Artemis, "Yeah right, more like 'Doctor Fake'. Guy knows a little advanced science, so he Dumbledore's it up to scare the bad guys and impress the babes."

"_And now," _Red Tornado said, not addressing Barry's comment, _"He has been missing for twenty-three days. Though he is no longer a member, the League likes to keep tabs on him. It is possible that he is simply on one of his… walkabouts, but he is caretaker to the Helmet of Fate, the source of the Doctor's mystic might. It is unwise to leave such power unguarded."_

"He's like the great sorcerer-priests and priestesses of Mars," M'gann said, staring at the image of Nelson in awe, "I would be honored to help find him."

"Me, too!" Barry's hand shot up, eager to impress the Martian, "So honored I can barely stand it. Magic rocks."

Ken, Conner and Artemis, who had heard Barry's disparaging comment earlier, only rolled their eyes.

"_Take this," _Red Tornado said, handing Ken an ornate key, _"It is the key to the Tower of Fate."_

"Got it," Ken said, then turned to Conner. "Could you go get Ship? The teleporters are down for maintenance, so we'll need a ride."

While Conner left to find the little alien—as well as put on a shirt—Barry grinned at M'gann.

"What are the chances we both so admire the mystic arts?"

Ken caught Artemis' eye, and both scoffed at the speedster's antics.

…

**Salem, Massachusetts, 20:22 EDT**

"So, Barry," Artemis asked as Ship flew the Team towards their destination, "When did you first realize your _honest _affinity for sorcery?"

Running with his lie, and still trying to impress M'gann, Barry shrugged. "Well, I… I don't like to brag, but, uh, before I became Kid Flash, I seriously considered becoming a wizard myself."

"Was that before or after you got your acceptance letter to Hogwarts?" Artemis asked with a smirk, then fist-bumped Ken.

M'gann, who had been at Ship's monitors, spoke up. "We've reached Tornado's coordinates, but…"

"Nothing's there," Conner said, looking out the viewport.

"Take us down anyway," Ken said, "There might be something we're not seeing."

As Ship landed in a park, an orange-furred cat narrowed its blood-red eyes, before turning around and dashing into an abandoned theater.

"Grant us access to the Tower," Abra Kadabra commanded, "and I promise an end to your suffering. Continue to refuse, and…"

There was a zapping sound, followed by a cry of agony. The cat ignored it, in favor of hopping into the lap of the only person in the audience. That person appeared to be a young boy, wearing a dark suit, his hair styled to look like demonic horns. The cat purred for a moment, before meowing.

"Shush, Teekl!" Klarion the Witch-Boy said with a sadistic smile, "I'm watching the show."

Up on the stage, tied to a chair, Kent Nelson panted for breath. "Enjoy it… while you can. Soon enough, my friends will come to help me."

Scowling, Abra Kadabra pointed his wand at the former Leaguer and hit him with a bolt of lightning. Klarion clapped at the torture, but his familiar, Teekl, hissed.

"What?" the Witch-Boy demanded, and got a loud meow. "Oh…"

Klarion's smile grew even larger.

…

After searching with several types of vision, as well as looking around the entire area, the Team was close to giving up on finding the Tower of Fate.

"Nothing's here," Barry said, frustrated, "This isn't simple camouflage."

"So, what do you think?" Artemis asked, testing the speedster's skepticism as well as trying to get him to trip over his own lie. "Adaptive micro-opto-electronics combined with phase-shifting?"

Barry's eyes widened and he smiled at the rational, scientific answer. "Absolutely…" then he saw M'gann approach, "…not. Clearly, mystic powers are at work here."

Unbeknownst to them, the Team was being observed by Abra Kadabra, Klarion and the bound Kent Nelson.

"Hey, Abra Kadabra," Klarion said, "Aren't _you _using adaptive micro-opto-electronics and phase-shifting?"

The false sorcerer sighed. "Yes."

Back outside, Ken pulled the key from his pocket. Inscribed on the side was the word 'insert'.

"Maybe it's a test of faith," he said to himself, then walked in front of the group, "I've got an idea."

Once he was in the middle of the park, he thrust the key forwards, where half of it disappeared! Ken could feel the key enter something and, on a whim, turned it. Once that was done, a massive obelisk appeared before the Team.

Ken gave a low whistle in appreciation. "Gotta admit, Doctor Fate had style."

"Amazing," Koriand'r said in awe, "not even the greatest mystics of Tamaran could conjure a structure so impressive."

As Ken opened the door, he smirked. "I guess this is one of those times they let Muggles like us come in."

Once inside, Conner turned around to find that the door was gone. "Uh, where'd the door go?"

Before anyone could answer him, a golden, semi-transparent image of Kent Nelson appeared.

"_Greetings," _the image said, _"You have entered with the key, but the Tower does not recognize you. Please state your purpose and intent."_

Seeing another chance to impress M'gann, Barry stepped forward. "We are true believers, here to find Doctor Fate."

The image of Kent Nelson frowned, and then faded. Before anyone could do anything, the floor beneath them crumbled away, and the heroes began to fall, straight towards a pit of lava!

Acting fast, Artemis grabbed a collapsible hand-crossbow from within her jacket and fired an arrow with a line attached. She hooked onto the wall, while Ken used his fire-powers to hover, and Koriand'r used her own abilities to fly. M'gann caught Barry on one arm and used her telekinesis to levitate them both. Conner grabbed onto the wall as well, his fingers and boots digging into the stone, but he couldn't stop in time, his feet falling into the magic lava, and he yelled in pain. The clone pulled his legs up, sans boots and the lower part of his jeans.

"Those… were my favorite boots," he said through the pain, "This Nelson guy better be worth it."

…

Outside the Tower, Abra Kadabra roughly pushed Kent forward, Klarion and his cat right behind them. A golden ankh glowed over the door to the Tower, then faded, the door opening soon after. The four entered, and Kent glared at his captors.

"The Tower may not appreciate trespassers," he warned.

Abra Kadabra pointed his wand at the man. "Mute."

A collar flew up and attached around Kent's throat, the technology within it removing the man's ability to speak. With that done, Kent was forced to lead them to a large room, complete with armchairs and a fireplace. Once they were there, the golden version of Kent appeared.

"_Hello, Kent," _the manifestation of the Tower said, _"How unlike you to bring guests into the Tower, especially one with such potent mystic power."_

As powerful as the Tower's magic was, it could not understand that Kent was under duress, nor could it comprehend its master being used to deceive it. Abra Kadabra placed his hand at the back of Kent's collar and pressed a button; Kent's voice then spoke from the device.

"My friends… come… to help me," it said.

The manifestation of the Tower smiled and disappeared. In front of them, a wall opened up, revealing a series of staircases, seemingly going in random directions.

…

The Team began to worry when M'gann began to slowly fall down towards the lava.

"Having trouble…" she grunted, using her free hand to wipe away beads of sweat, "maintaining altitude. Ugh, I'm so hot."

"You certainly are," Barry said.

"Barry!" Artemis shouted, as she hopped onto a platform of Mana, which Ken had switched to using to pick up the members of the Team who couldn't fly. Unfortunately, they couldn't go up, since the hole they had fallen through had sealed itself.

"Hey, inches above sizzling death," Barry defended, "I'm entitled to speak my mind!"

"Why is she falling?" Koriand'r asked, even as she grabbed both the Martian and the speedster.

"It's Martian physiology," Ken told her, "They don't do well with fire or extreme heat… like now. We need to get out of here!"

As Koriand'r lifted M'gann and Barry higher, the Martian slapped her own forehead. "Hel_lo_, Megan! We never truly answered the question."

"Of course!" Now it was Ken's turn to slap his forehead, before yelling, "Red Tornado sent us! We're here to see if Kent Nelson and the Helmet of Fate were safe!"

A second later, the lava below them was covered by a thick door. The heroes flew down to stand on it, relieved that they weren't in danger. Ken cautiously placed his hand on the metal floor.

"Huh, I thought it would be hot, considering the lava underneath," he said, "but it's actually a little cold."

Trying, once again, to flirt with M'gann, Barry wrapped one arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, Megalicious, I got you."

"ENOUGH!" Artemis marched up and grabbed the speedster by the shoulders. "Your little 'impress Megan at all costs' game nearly got us all barbecued!"

"When did this become my fault?" Barry demanded.

"When you lied to that… whatever-it-was… and called yourself a true believer!"

M'gann sent Barry a disappointing stare. "Barry, you don't believe?"

Seeing similar looks from the rest of his teammates, Barry threw his hands up. "Fine, fine! I lied about believing in magic. But magic is the real lie, a major load!"

"Come on, Barry," Ken said, "You've seen Zatanna, and we told you about Raven. How can you _not _believe in magic?"

"Come on, yourself!" Barry said, "Haven't you heard about energy-manipulation? It's a proven metahuman ability—you and you're great-grandmother are proof of that, so how can _you _believe in this junk?"

Ken shrugged. "All magic may use Mana, but not all Mana-based abilities are magic. I don't do sorcery, but I potentially could—I just prefer what I can do now. As for how I can believe… when Jen and I were really little, Zatanna would sometimes babysit us while my parents were out doing their job."

"What does that prove?" Barry asked.

Ken smiled as he remembered. "She turned Jen's hair blue, then transformed a chair into an iguana."

"Smoke and mirrors," Barry said dismissively, "Hey, in primitive cultures, fire was considered magic. Today, it's all just a bunch of tricks."

"My people were not primitive," Koriand'r said with narrowed eyes.

"And neither were mine," M'gann added.

"You're pretty close-minded for a guy who can break the sound barrier in his sneakers," Artemis said crossly.

"That's science," Barry shot back, "I recreated Flash's laboratory experiment, and here I am. Everything can be explained by science."

"Oh yeah?" Ken said, gripping a handle on floor that would open a small door.

"Wait!" Barry shouted, "The back-draft from the lava will roast us alive!"

Ken opened the door, but instead of lava and heat, snow and cold came out. Artemis smirked at a dumbfounded Barry.

"Do you ever get tired of being wrong?" she asked.

The Team jumped down through the hole, but found themselves exiting horizontally. Koriand'r looked around at the massive field of snow and mountains around them.

"It appears that this Tower is larger on the inside," she commented.

Ken laughed. "And me without my sonic screwdriver."

"Well?" Artemis asked Barry, as the door vanished, "Explain this, why don't you?"

"Ever hear of String Theory?" Barry said, "We're in a pocket dimension."

"Ugh!" Artemis threw her hands up and stormed away.

"What's that?" M'gann pointed at a gold-topped cane that stood in the snow.

"Ooh, maybe it's Nelson's magic wand," Barry said sarcastically and dashed over to it, grabbing the cane at the same time as Artemis.

"I got it," both said at the same time, just as the cane began to glow with golden light, "What? I can't let go!"

Then the cane rocketed upwards, carrying the two with it; a moment later, there was a flash of golden light, and they vanished. The four remaining teammates looked at each other uncertainly, until Ken shrugged.

"Oh well, now we don't have to hear them arguing." He started walking in a random direction. "Come on, let's see if we can find a way out of the magic TARDIS. Allons-y, everyone!"

…

"Are we there yet?" Klarion groaned as he, Teekl, Abra Kadabra and Kent Nelson wandered through the seemingly never-ending staircases, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"

Fed up, Abra Kadabra grabbed Kent and spun him around to face him. "Tell us how to find the helmet!"

Since Kent couldn't answer because of the collar, Abra Kadabra ripped it off and hurled it away. The former Leaguer smiled.

"Can't," he said, "Having too much fun!"

Snarling, Abra Kadabra pointed his wand and fired a bolt of lightning, sending Kent to the ground in pain.

"Still having fun?" the false sorcerer demanded.

Klarion laughed. "I know I am; now zap him again, or dump him off the side and watch him splat!"

Deciding to take the first option, Abra Kadabra fired more lightning, much to Klarion's pleasure. After a moment, Teekl yowled loudly.

"Ah, yes, yes," Klarion admitted, "I suppose we might still need him."

…

As Ken, Conner, Koriand'r and M'gann made their way through the snow, one of the girls had something on her mind.

"Why did this Kent Nelson stop being Doctor Fate?" Koriand'r asked, "I did not know that heroes on this world could simply quit."

"Being a hero is voluntary," Ken explained, "But I think the reason Nelson quit is because his wife died fifteen years ago. From what I've heard, she was in an accident and died, but if Fate had been around, he could have saved her with a wave of his hand. At that time, though, he was on a League mission, and didn't know about his wife until it was too late. Before he joined the League, Doctor Fate spent more time in the Tower, with Inza. I guess he blamed the League for taking him away from his home."

Koriand'r nodded. "It seems that tragedy befalls both those who wear the helmet, and the people they love."

"That's how all tragedy works," Ken said solemnly.

The group walked in silence for a while, until M'gann spoke.

"I don't understand Barry," she said, "It's almost like he _needs _to believe that the impossible can't happen."

Ken sighed. "As annoying as it is, Barry uses his understanding of science to explain things. With all that happens in our world—monsters, aliens, metahumans and that kind of stuff—he needs to have something that explains all that. It's his way of controlling what he can't understand. If he acknowledged magic, he'd have to give up that tiny bit of control."

Before anyone could comment, a creaking sound was heard. The Team turned to see a door open in the side of a nearby hill.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Koriand'r asked.

Conner shrugged. "Better than wandering around forever."

…

Abra Kadabra stopped Kent's torture when he and Klarion saw a flash of golden light. The villains and their captive were surprised to see Barry and Artemis appear on a staircase that, to them, looked upside-down.

Barry reacted first. "Abra Kadabra!"

"Well, would you look at that," Kent said, just as both he and his cane began to glow with golden light. He rose into the air and flew towards the teens, landing in front of them. He touched the top of the cane, allowing the younger heroes to finally let go of the cane, while also disintegrating his bonds.

"In here," he said, pointing at a wall, onto which a door appeared, and the three ran inside.

"No, no NO!" Klarion yelled, pointing his hands at the closing door. "I want that helmet! I want it, I want it, I want it!"

He launched two red beams of mystical energy, but they impacted uselessly on the closed door.

Inside the small room, which turned out to be an elevator, Barry and Artemis looked at Kent, who gave them a happy smile.

"I'm Kent Nelson, by the way," he said.

"No duh," Barry said, and then Artemis elbowed him, "Ow!"

"I'm Artemis," the blond girl said, then gestured to the speedster, "Miss Manners here is Barry."

"Well, Artemis," Kent said, "We're up against an opponent with tremendous mystic power."

"Abra Kadabra?" Barry scoffed, "Flash proved he uses futuristic technology to _simulate _magic. That guy's all show and no biz."

"Right you are," Kent said with a grin.

"He is?" Artemis asked in disbelief, while Barry smirked.

"Abra _is _a charlatan," Kent explained, "but Klarion the Witch-Boy, the kid with the cat, he's an actual Lord of Chaos. He's the ultimate enemy of a Lord of Order like Doctor Fate."

Barry scoffed again. "Right, you're a 'Lord of Order'."

"Oh, I never was," Kent said, "I just used the Helmet of Fate to boost my own mystical powers. Normally, whoever puts on the helmet gives up control of their body to Nabu, the spirit that inhabits the helmet, but I made a deal with him so that I could stay in control… until my wife, Inza, passed. Then I decided that it wasn't worth all that power if I couldn't save the people I love."

Kent trailed off, lost in melancholy, before getting back on track. "Anyway, that's why we can't let Klarion get the Helmet of Fate. If he gets his sticky little mitts on it, he'll turn the whole planet into his own personal playground of pandemonium."

With a ding, the elevator stopped. Kent led the way out, where they found themselves in a room with more staircases, as well as a giant, golden bell in the center. Just as the three were about to touch the bell, a door opened up in the ceiling above them, and Ken, Conner, Koriand'r and M'gann tumbled out.

As Artemis went to check on them, Kent turned to Barry. "Friends of yours?"

Instead of answering, Barry yanked Kent to the ground, narrowly avoiding a bolt of lightning from Abra Kadabra, who stood on another staircase, beside Klarion and his cat.

"Get Nelson and the Helmet out of here!" Ken shouted to Barry, "We'll handle these guys!"

With Barry right behind him, Kent approached the golden bell and tolled it with his cane. The bell began to glow, and Kent and Barry stepped through it. Klarion wasn't far behind, flying through the bell as well, Teekl still in his arms.

Barry and Kent arrived at the very top of the Tower, where the Helmet of Fate hovered in place. Kent reached for it, but a bolt of red energy from Klarion struck him in the chest and he tumbled, barely caught by Barry. The former Doctor Fate raised his cane and chanted an incantation, creating a golden bubble, just before another one of Klarion's attacks hit.

"NO!" Klarion whined.

"Not bad for a former 'Doctor Fake', eh, kid?" Kent wheezed, before falling to the ground, his fall broken by Barry's arms. "The bubble'll give you just enough time… to do what you need to do."

"I have no _idea _what I need to do!" Barry said frantically.

"Have faith," Kent said weakly, "In what you can't explain… believe in what you can no longer deny…"

With that, Kent Nelson died, his hand finally letting go of his pocket watch, which tumbled open to reveal the picture of Inza. Unable to accept that, Barry began performing CPR, hoping to revive the former Leaguer, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Klarion bombarded the bubble with more magic, but couldn't break through it.

Out of options, Barry looked up at the Helmet of Fate, still hovering.

_Maybe… _Barry thought, before M'gann's voice cut into his mind.

{Barry, we're in trouble!} she shouted, {Abra Kadabra caught everyone but me and Ken in some sort of energy-net—tell Nelson that we need Doctor Fate!}

Then Barry heard M'gann scream in pain, and the connection was lost. Now, Barry _knew _he had no choice; he grabbed the Helmet of Fate.

"A test of faith…" he murmured.

"Hey, dumb kid!" Klarion called out in a taunting voice, "If you put that on, you may never get it off!"

Just as Klarion destroyed the barrier, Barry slid the helmet onto his head…

…

And suddenly, he was in a dark room, the only light was a single beam that came down from high above. Frantically, Barry tried to rationalize what had happened to him.

"Okay, okay," he said to himself, "I'm not here, I'm just… delusional! Yeah, that's it."

"Still don't believe?" a familiar, yet impossible voice said from behind him. Barry turned to see none other than Kent Nelson!

"Seriously, kid," the dead man said, "How'd you get so bullheaded in fifteen short years?"

"But… but you're…" Barry stammered, unable to believe it, "What, did I find the Resurrection Stone or something!?"

"Yes, I'm dead, and no, this isn't Harry Potter," Kent said, grinning, "But don't feel bad about the fact that I'm dead. Soon as this little brouhaha is over, my spirit will ascend, and I'll be reunited with my beloved Inza."

"Oh… okay," Barry said, then realized something. "Wait, does that mean that I'm dead, too!?"

"No, you're still alive," Kent assured him, "but your soul no longer controls your body. You see, we're _inside _the Helmet. You put it on, and my soul got sucked in, probably because I spent so many years as partner to its _true _master—Nabu, the _real _Doctor Fate, one of the Lords of Order I told you about."

"And he's, what, controlling my body now?" Barry asked.

Kent chuckled. "You're not as dumb as you first made yourself out to be."

"Hey!"

Kent waved off the indignant shout. "Anyway, wanna watch that Klarion brat get spanked?"

…

Once Barry put on the Helmet of Fate, he had changed. He now wore a blue, tight-fitting outfit, with a high-collared, gold cape, gold gauntlets, boots and belt. The Helmet itself now concealed all of Barry's features, save for his ears and eyes.

At that moment, Barry Allen was gone.

In his place, Doctor Fate lived once more.

"Give it up, Nabu!" Klarion shouted, hurling red globes of energy at a golden ankh that Fate had summoned, "Order went out of style in the twentieth century!"

"_This battle is pointless," _Fate said, his voice a combination of Barry's and another, much deeper one, _"You sought to take the Helmet before it gained a host, but you are too late."_

Klarion scowled. "Shut it, you old fart!"

The Witch-Boy raised his arms, and in response, two towers of stone curved up and slammed together on Doctor Fate. The Lord of Order, however, was unharmed; a golden ankh glowed over the stone, which then exploded. Doctor Fate glared at the Lord of Chaos.

"_Brat," _he said, creating another ankh, which then fired a beam of golden light at Klarion, who split apart into thousands of tiny specks, which then scattered and reformed behind Fate. Once he was whole again, Klarion hit Fate in the back with a stream of crimson lightning.

…

"Ah!" Barry fell to his knees as incredible pain spread across his back. "What gives?"

Kent shrugged. "Well, it is _your _body."

"Then let _me _control it," Barry said, getting back to his feet, "With Fate's power and my speed…"

"Sorry, doesn't work that way," Kent said, "Even when I had control, I was just using the Helmet as a boost for my own power. And before you ask, don't even think about making a deal with Nabu—if you don't do it perfect, he might as well be in control."

"Wait a second…" Barry said, mounting horror in his tone, "What happens if Fate _loses _this fight?"

Kent's face was grim. "Then you see Inza before I do."

…

Doctor Fate was losing. Aside from the beginning of the fight, he was always on the defensive, unable to launch an attack of his own. On top of that, his powers were a far cry from what they should have been, a fact that Klarion was quick to point out.

"You're out of practice, Nabu," he gloated, even as he slammed the Sorcerer Supreme into the roof of the Tower again, "And that pathetic host body has no affinity for the mystic arts."

Klarion raised his hands to the sky, which answered with roiling thunderclouds. Those clouds discharged a massive bolt of red lightning, which Fate only stopped by putting nearly everything he had into a small shield around himself. The resulting impact created a kaleidoscope of colors.

"Ooh," Klarion said, momentarily distracted, "Rainbows…"

At his feet, Teekl meowed loudly, making Klarion scowl.

"I _am _paying attention, you stupid cat." Teekl only yowled again. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm _winning_!"

Finally calling on every bit of energy both he and his host had, Fate dispersed the magic hitting him, as well as sending Klarion flying back. Fate took a few steps forward, as golden flames licked the ground around him.

"_It is difficult for a Lord of Order or Chaos to maintain a presence on the physical plane," _he said.

Enraged, Klarion's features became more demonic, as both his body and Teekl's were wrapped in scarlet fire. He then hurled a massive barrage of fireballs at his opponent, who dodged them all.

"_I am bound to the Helmet, and use a human host," _Fate continued, then fired another beam of golden energy, which Klarion only blocked by raising a barrier of stone. _"But that is not _your _way."_

"You're babbling, Nabu," Klarion snarled.

"_Am I?" _Fate asked, then fired a massive beam of energy from the yellow gem that secured his cape.

Klarion raised a mystical shield to block it, but he was never the intended target. Instead, Teekl was hit full-force and sent flying.

"Teekl!" Klarion shouted in horror, then glared at Fate. "I can't believe you would assault a defenseless pussycat!"

"_We both know that creature is no cat, Witch-Boy," _Fate intoned, _"and without your familiar, you have no anchor in this reality."_

Klarion looked at his hands, which were starting to fade in and out. It was true—he was starting to lose his grip on the physical plane. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't rail against the one responsible.

"Bully! Killjoy! Geezer!"

Fate raised his hands and fired another beam of energy.

"Holy crap!" Klarion jumped backwards into a red portal, reappearing next to his familiar and scooping the cat up into his arms. "We're outta here!"

In a storm of red-and-black fire, the Lord of Chaos retreated.

Doctor Fate considered pursuing his nemesis, but something else caught his attention… something he couldn't ignore.

…

For what seemed the umpteenth time, Ken dodged another energy-net that Abra Kadabra hurled at him. The fight was a stalemate; while he could dodge or absorb anything the false magic-user used, Abra could just teleport away from any of Ken's attacks.

That all changed when a golden ankh appeared behind the criminal; when it faded, Abra's wand, technology, even his clothes were gone. With the technology powering the energy-nets erased, the other members of the Team got up, each of them wanting to repay Abra for the pain he'd inflicted on them.

Conner, however, was closest.

"Show's over," he said, punching the villain in the face, easily knocking him out.

"Glad that's over and done with," Ken said, "But what just happened? And where's Barry?"

…

"Yes!" Barry cheered, having just witnessed Abra's defeat through Fate's eyes, "That's how we kick it on the earthly plane!"

However, if he had been expecting for Nabu to remove the Helmet after winning, he was sorely disappointed.

"Um, it's over, right?" Barry asked, "So why isn't Nabu taking off the helmet?"

"_Because the Earth needs Doctor Fate," _the deep voice of Nabu said, appearing before Barry and Kent in the shape of the Helmet.

"_I will not release this body."_

"He can't do that!" Barry protested, then turned to Kent, "Can he do that?"

"Can, but shouldn't," Kent said, then turned to the Helmet, "Nabu, this is not the right candidate. He only wore the Helmet as a last resort, and you know that you can only use his body for as long as the crisis lasts. That crisis is now over. Besides, this boy's soul belongs to the world of science, not sorcery."

"_True," _Nabu admitted, _"but I do not appreciate being hidden away for fifteen long years, useless and isolated. Kent Nelson, while I understand your reasoning for not wanting to be Doctor Fate, you know that Chaos must not be allowed to reign!"_

"It won't happen again," Kent assured the Lord of Order, "The boy'll take the helmet and make sure you're put to good use."

"Yeah, I swear!" Barry promised, more than willing to do a good thing like bringing back a hero in order to get his body back.

"In the meantime," Kent continued, "I'll stick around and keep you company."

"Wait a second," Barry said, "What happened to you ascending, seeing Inza?"

"So you believe now, eh?" Kent smiled. "Don't sweat it, kid. I'll spend a few millennia here, _then _see Inza. That's the great thing about eternity: it's eternal."

"_The bargain is acceptable," _Nabu said.

"Some free advice before you go," Kent said to Barry, "Find your own little spitfire, one who won't let you get away with nothin'. For example, that…"

Before he could finish, Barry's world exploded with light.

…

Barry pulled off the Helmet, the outfit of Doctor Fate fading back into his civilian clothes. His eyes fell on the body of Kent Nelson; he walked up to the corpse, kneeling down and placing the fallen pocket watch back in the man's hand.

He stayed there, head bowed, until the rest of the Team found him.

…

**Mount Justice, August 20, 03:48 EDT**

The Team had taken Kent Nelson's body to the Cave, while dropping off the captured Abra Kadabra to the authorities, and suggesting the man be accused of murder, on top of his other deeds.

Once at the Cave, they had reported what had happened to Red Tornado and Batman, the latter of whom had shown up with Robin just a few minutes before they did. Solemnly, the two Leaguers had taken Kent's body away, but not before praising them for doing Kent's duty of keeping the Helmet of Fate safe.

Still, that didn't help the Team feel any better about failing to save Kent himself. Ken had spoken to each of his teammates, and while most were dealing with the loss of Kent, Koriand'r seemed to be taking the hardest, besides Barry himself. However, Barry seemed to have already reached some sort of closure. Kory, on the other hand, was in her quarters in the Cave, and Ken's super-hearing had picked up muffled sobs. While he wanted to help her, he suddenly had an idea of who else was better-suited for the task.

"Hey, Jason," Ken called out to Batman's protégé, who had changed into his civilian clothes upon arriving.

"Yeah, Ken? What's up?" Jason asked.

"Well, it's Kory," Ken began, mentally noting how Jason tensed ever-so-slightly, "After what happened today, she kinda locked herself in her room. This was the first time she's seen death since arriving on Earth and… well, she's not taking it well."

Jason nodded, his mouth set in a determined line. "I'll go talk to her."

Ken nodded back, then headed to his own quarters; the Team was too exhausted, physically and emotionally, to head back home tonight, so everyone would staying at the Cave.

Jason walked up to Koriand'r's quarters and knocked on the door. "Kory? Can I come in?"

There was a brief rustling noise, and then Kory's voice rang out. "Yes."

Jason opened the door to find Koriand'r sitting on the edge of her bed, dressed in purple pajamas. Her eyes were puffy from crying, and she had wrapped her arms around a pillow. Jason sat down next to her, neither of them saying anything for a while.

Finally, Jason spoke. "I heard about what happened today."

Kory flinched. "Kent Nelson died, and I was unable to do anything… just like I was unable to save Tamaran. I could not save my world, I could not even save one man!"

Jason tentatively wrapped an arm around the alien girl's shoulders. "That's a natural kind of guilt. It's always going to be there; the knowledge that for every person we save in the nick of time, we're too late to save a dozen more."

Kory found herself leaning into Jason. "How do you deal with that?"

Jason smiled, but there was little humor in it. "You take comfort in the fact that you made a difference to some of those people. You can hang back and do nothing… or, you can do some good in the world, and try to be an example to others."

"Thank you," Kory said, scooting over and replacing the pillow she had been hugging with Jason, "That… does help."

Jason smiled again, but this time it was genuine. "Anytime. Hey, Kory?"

For Jason, now seemed as good a time as any to ask, especially if it took Kory's mind off of today.

"Hmm?" she mumbled, starting to doze off.

"Do you have plans for next weekend?"

Koriand'r opened her eyes and looked up at Jason. "No, why?"

Jason fought against the blush that threatened to cover his face. "I was just wondering… you wanna catch a movie?"

Kory smiled, her eyes practically glowing. "I would very much like that."

For a while longer, the two sat there, not speaking, but simply enjoying the other's presence. Finally, when Jason left, he had a wide grin on his face, while Kory snuggled under her covers, her mind and heart much more at ease.

…

Meanwhile, Barry had just placed the Helmet of Fate on what was now being called the 'Trophy Wall'. On one shelf, the souvenirs that Barry had collected on the Team's missions were arranged in a row. For the time being, it seemed a good place to hold the Helmet, at least until someone needed to use it.

Barry stared at the Helmet for some time, until he heard a cough from behind him. He turned to see Artemis, leaning against the doorframe.

"So, what happened to you when you put on the Helmet?" she asked.

For a moment, Barry was tempted to try to rationalize it all away, but something made him stop. He had spoken to the spirit of someone he knew, even if it hadn't been for very long. He couldn't rationalize that away, no matter how much a part of him wanted to.

Finally, he shrugged. "I'm not sure. I… I can't explain it."

Artemis tilted her head. "Does that mean that you believe in magic now?"

Barry sighed. "I'm… willing to consider that there _are _things that science can't explain."

"Wow, I'm impressed," Artemis said without a hint of sarcasm, "That must have taken a lot to admit."

"Yeah, well," Barry glanced at the Helmet again, "I think the cost of that lesson was too high."

Artemis nodded. They stayed silent for a moment, before Barry felt himself getting tugged out of the room by Artemis.

"Hey, what're you…"

"You had a bad day," Artemis explained, still dragging him, "We all did. That's why you and I are going to drown our sorrows."

"Excuse me?" Barry asked.

"Smoothies," Artemis clarified, "I blame Ken for getting us all hooked on the things, but I think it's better than moping, don't you? Now come on; for a guy with super-speed, you're dragging your feet a lot."

As the two entered the kitchen, Barry was reminded of Kent's last words to him.

"_Find your own little spitfire, one who won't let you get away with nothin'…"_

Barry shared a small smile with Artemis, who handed him the first of what would be many smoothies of that night.

**So, while I kept the core events the same, I decided that there were a few things that needed changing.**

**The big one: someone DIED. These teens were all faced with a death, and they all brushed it off like it was nothing in the show. That's ridiculous. With the exception of Robin, who wasn't even there, no one on the Team should be able to handle something like that so easily. On top of that, when Kid Flash heard Kent's last words again, he overlooks Artemis and goes right back to chasing M'gann. It was one of many times I wanted to strangle him. This time, I wanted things to be a little more mature and realistic.**

**Also, the first blossoms of romance, the first of many pairings: I declare this pairing to be RobinFire… or StarRobin, whichever. And, as you saw, the first inklings of Spitfire, a canon pairing that I really like, not that Kid Flash or Artemis will admit it for a while.**

**Just a warning, I'm going to have one, possibly two or even three original chapters, all back-to-back. Stuff will happen, OCs will be introduced, and Ken will probably get kicked in the face by Jen again.**

**That's got to be the best Muffin I've ever seen.**


	10. Better, Faster, Stronger

**BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. YOUNG JUSTICE DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS DO, AND FOR LESS THAN MINIMUM WAGE, BUT THEY DON'T KNOW THAT.**

**Hello all, here's another one of my original chapters. It's really a 2-parter, even if the two chapters don't share the names. Anyway, on with the beating up of bad guys!**

Unlimited Justice, Part 1

Chapter 9

Better, Faster, Stronger

**San Francisco, August 22, 13:25 PDT**

"Can you believe this?" Ken asked his best friends, Valerie Sage and Victor Stone, as they walked through the halls of San Francisco's STAR Labs branch.

"What, the fact that we get a backstage pass?" Victor asked back, "Or the fact that the school still calls trips like this 'field trips'?"

"Both," Ken admitted, "But at least we have you to thank for the first one, Vic!"

"Yeah, big guy," Valerie said, playfully elbowing Victor in the ribs, "Guess we're lucky your dad is such a big-shot around here, huh?"

Victor shrugged. "I'm just glad that Dad had the time to see me… I mean, us."

The trio fell into an awkward silence for a moment. Ken and Valerie had met Victor's father before, and while they could see that both father and son loved each other, one was a scientist, while the other was an athlete. They just didn't have much in common; plus, both were busy, either with work or with school.

Victor smiled again. "Well, maybe Dad will show us this project that he's been so worked up about lately. Seriously, every time he mentions it, it's like he rediscovered electricity or something!"

"If it's electricity, maybe he should just talk to Ken?" Valerie joked, "After all, he's a living electric battery, right?"

Ken quickly looked around to make sure that no one had heard that comment, then glared at Valerie; she immediately looked sheepish.

"Sorry," she said, then gave a slight yelp when Ken elbowed her. "I said I was sorry!"

"That wasn't for the superhero thing," Ken whispered, "It was for calling me a battery."

Valerie stuck her tongue out at him, but the friendly bickering was interrupted by a voice calling out to them.

"Victor! Over here!" the three teens turned to see a middle-aged African-American in a lab coat waving to them.

"Hey, Dad," Victor called back, as he, Ken and Valerie approached.

"I'm glad that your school allowed you to separate from the rest of the class to see this," Silas Stone said, his eyes wide with excitement.

"Thanks for inviting us, too, Doctor Stone," Valerie said politely.

Silas nodded. "Of course, of course. If I had just invited Victor, he would have gotten bored; right, son?"

"Sorry, Dad," Victor said.

Silas only shrugged. "No worries, Victor. Now, come on; I can't wait to show you three this!"

Silas led them to a small, well-lit laboratory, filled with plates of metal, wires and circuitry. Disturbingly, some of those parts were shaped like human limbs.

"Um, sir?" Ken said tentatively, "What is all of this?"

"This," Silas said, waving his arm to encompass the room, "Is the next step in medical cybernetics. If someone loses a limb, these new ones can not only work just as well as the original, but next-gen cybernetic nerves can actually allow someone to feel, just like with living tissue!"

The three teens were impressed; it really was the next step in helping people. Victor gave his father a quick, one-armed hug.

"This is great, Dad," he said, "This'll really do a lot of good in the world."

Silas blinked in surprise at his son's words. "Thank you, Victor. I must say, I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction from you."

Victor shrugged. "Hey, just 'cause I'm not a science-geek like you doesn't mean I can't appreciate what you do."

"Should we leave them alone?" Valerie whispered to Ken, "It looks like they're having a moment."

Ken nodded. "Come on, let's see if we can't find our way back to the rest of the class."

"And by that," Valerie said softly, when she saw Ken's eyes briefly flash blue, "You mean you'll use your X-ray vision to get us back?"

Ken grinned. "Well, if you want to get technical."

For a few minutes, the two of them walked in silence, avoiding the occasional security guard or employee that they saw. They didn't want to get in trouble, after all. When they were halfway to where the class was, however, Valerie almost ran into Ken, who had frozen.

"Ken?" she looked up at him, his face fixed in intense concentration, "What's wrong?"

"That whistling noise…" Ken said quietly, before his eyes went wide and he spun around, "Get down!"

Ken tackled Valerie to the ground, just as a barrage of missiles rocked the building. Scientists and visiting students alike screamed and panicked, while chunks of the building rained down and fires began to spread. One piece of debris fell towards Valerie, but Ken jumped on top of her, bracing himself so that the debris broke over him, leaving Valerie unharmed.

"You all right?" Ken asked, helping her to her feet and dusting himself off.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Valerie said over the sound of screams and destruction, "What's going on?"

Ken scanned the area with his X-ray vision, scowling when he caught sight of several familiar, red-robed figures entering the area.

"Kobra," he growled, then turned to Valerie, "I'm gonna go stop them. You wait here, okay?"

Valerie nodded, expecting her friend to rush headlong into battle. "I'll try to find Vic, how about that?"

"There you are!"

Ken and Valerie turned to see Silas Stone heading towards them. He wasn't in the best shape; dust caked most of his clothes, and a nasty cut was on his forehead.

"Doctor Stone," Valerie said, "Sorry about disappearing like that, but you don't look too good…"

"Forget about me!" Silas shouted, "Victor and I got separated when the explosions began, and now I can't find him!"

Ken and Valerie looked at each other, and the former made a snap decision.

"Val, you take Doctor Stone and get out of here. I'll go look for Vic—and here," he quickly handed her his cell phone, "Call the first number on the speed-dial."

Valerie looked like she wanted to protest, but Silas was swaying on his feet, so she moved to support him and led him outside.

"Be careful!" she called out over her shoulder.

Once Ken had ran deeper into the burning building, Valerie helped Silas outside and handed him off to a team of arriving paramedics. She then ran to a secluded area and called the first number on Ken's phone. After just one ring, the person on the other end of the line picked up.

"_Hello?" _Supergirl said, _"Ken, what's wrong?"_

"Supergirl, it's Valerie," the teen said calmly, "We need your help. Kobra is attacking the STAR Labs here, and Ken went back into the building to stop them and rescue Victor."

There was the briefest of pauses before Supergirl answered. _"I got it. I'll be there soon, and so will the League. Get somewhere safe, okay, Valerie?"_

"Yes, ma'am," Valerie said, hanging up just before she heard movement behind her.

"Well, well, well," the Kobra cultist said maliciously, "What have we here?"

Valerie slowly opened and closed her hands, as two more cultists arrived. "You know, you guys should really get out of here; the Justice League is on the way, and they're going to be very annoyed with you."

"You won't be able to tell them anything," one cultist sneered as he drew a knife, "Not after I cut your throat!"

The man rushed forward and stabbed, but to his surprise, and that of his friends, Valerie easily grabbed the man's wrist, broke it, snatched the knife out of his hand and flipped over his head, all in one fluid motion.

Before the wounded knife-wielder could even scream, Valerie then slashed the blade across his Achilles tendons, then drove her knee into his temple, knocking him out. She then turned to the remaining two cultists.

"Who's next?" she asked, a hint of a smile on her face.

The men snarled and charged at the same time. One threw a straight punch, while the other brought his hands together to smash the girl. Valerie ducked under the punch, then tackled that man, knocking him to the ground and avoiding the downward blow at the same time. She kicked the man whom she'd knocked down in the head, then threw the knife she still held into the second man's knee. She ran up and rapidly punched the second man in the throat, damaging his larynx, then punched him across the face, knocking him down.

After checking all three men to see if they were still alive—which they were—Valerie looked back at the burning STAR Labs, which still shook from the occasional explosion. It was wrong of her to think it, but she was glad that both of her friends were in there.

She still didn't want to reveal her secret yet.

…

"Of all the days…" Ken growled as he punched another cultist into the ceiling, "you could have attacked…" another cultist found his red coat on fire, "it just _had _to be today, didn't it? I mean, can't I just have a normal day with my friends? Is that too much to ask?"

The cultist whose chest Ken was now stepping on looked up at him, confused; Ken shrugged.

"Yeah, maybe it is, but I can try!" Ken then knocked the man out and resumed his search for Victor.

The sound of yelling and fists hitting flesh caught his attention, and Ken used his super-speed to reach the source. To his surprise, he found Victor standing over the unconscious forms of several cultists, another one held up in one arm, while the other was cocked back, ready to swing.

"Dude, I did _not _see that coming," Ken said, slightly in awe over how his friend had beaten up trained soldiers.

"Oh, hey Ken," Victor said, then knocked out the cultist, "Have you seen my dad? We got separated, and…"

"Don't worry," Ken assured him, "Val got him out of the building. Now, I think we should do the same."

"No argument here, man," Victor said, and the two began heading to the exit.

"So, what's this about?" Victor asked a moment later.

"No idea," Ken admitted, as he lifted a fallen chunk of wall out of the way, "Kobra doesn't do hits like this often, and I can't think of anything here that would make them target this place."

"Sounds like you've got work to do once this is over," Victor commented.

"First things first," Ken said, creating a shield of Mana over his friend's head, blocking some burning debris, "We need to get out of here."

The two took a few more steps, and then the worst happened. Perhaps it was a gas line being ruptured, perhaps another explosive hit—no one would ever know. What Ken _did _know was that suddenly, there was a massive explosion, one that left him only slightly hurt, but when the smoke and fire cleared, his eyes found a horrible sight.

"VIC!"

…

**Mount Justice, 19:45 EDT**

Batman had summoned the entire Team to the Cave for an emergency meeting, but didn't specify what it was about. When they arrived, the Team realized that Ken wasn't there; at first, they thought he was just running late. Then, they found the truth.

They found Ken sitting on a chair in the kitchen, still wearing his civilian clothes, which were charred and torn. That wasn't what startled them, though; what made them stop in shock was the sight of Ken's hands, which were covered in dried blood, and the vacant way that he stared at them.

"Ken, what happened?" Miss Martian was the first to ask.

Ken didn't answer; he was still staring at his hands. Miss Martian was going to try again, but then Batman entered the room. The Dark Knight spared a second to glance at Ken, before addressing the rest of the Team.

"Three hours ago, Kobra attacked the STAR Labs in San Francisco. Most of the staff and high school students who were visiting escaped without serious injury, save for Victor Stone… a friend of Ken."

The Team looked back at their leader, who was starting to shake himself out of his stupor.

"We've recently acquired some intelligence about why Kobra attacked, as well as who was leading the assault." Batman brought up a holographic image of a CD, next to an image of Shimmer. "Under orders from Kobra himself, Shimmer was tasked with using the attack as a diversion, so that she could get her hands on this disk, which holds the research of Doctor Silas Stone, a leading expert on cybernetics. The Team will be pursuing Shimmer and getting back the disk or destroying it, should retrieval be impossible."

Ken got up and made his way to the front of the group. "Where do we start?"

Batman gave him a piercing stare. "Can you handle it?"

Ken nodded.

"And if you encounter Shimmer?"

Ken didn't even blink. "I may break a few bones, but it's not like you haven't done the same to the Joker, right?"

Batman glared at him for a moment, then nodded. "Suit up. You leave in five minutes."

…

**The Watchtower, 20:00 EDT**

Victor stirred, his body a mass of pain, and what few parts of him he could still move felt like lead weights.

"Easy, Vic," a familiar female voice said.

_Valerie, _Victor realized. _What happened? The last thing I remember is an explosion and… oh. I must be hurt._

Slowly, he opened his eyes to see Valerie, her face and clothes still streaked with smoke. However, Victor noticed something wrong; his vision kept splitting between normal sight and a red tint. What was going on?

"Vic, don't try to move," Valerie said, "You're still recovering from surgery."

"Surgery?" Victor repeated numbly, "How bad was I hurt?"

"Very badly," Silas Stone said as he entered the room, along with Ken's parents, "I'm sorry, Victor, but we had no choice. It was either we go forward with the procedure, or let you die. I just… I couldn't lose you. I hope you can forgive me."

"Forgive you for what?" Victor demanded, "What's going on? What did you do to me, Dad?"

Ben nodded at Valerie, who held up a mirror. "See for yourself."

Victor stared in shock. The reflection that stared back at him was a twisted mockery of what he used to be. The left side of his face and head had been replaced by interlocking plates of metal, while a red optic replaced his left eye. The metal spread down, covering his chin, and then the rest of his body. Everything seemed to be dull-gray plates of metal, with the occasional red circle, most dominantly on the center of his chest. His shoulders were enlarged, giving him a slightly hulking appearance.

He was horrified.

"What… what did you _do_!?" he tried struggling to his feet.

"Vic, no!" Valerie and Silas tried to restrain him.

"Your cybernetics are still adjusting!" his father added.

Victor didn't care; he threw them off with superhuman strength, slamming both of them into wall behind him.

"Kara, hold him still!" Ben said.

Even Victor's newfound power was no match for Supergirl, who kept him pinned to the cot he'd been lying on.

"Victor, _listen _to me," Ben said, looking into the teen's mismatched eyes, "Your father was faced with an impossible choice: let you keep your humanity, or let you die. You can be mad at him if you want, but he did what he did because he loves you. Now, SIT STILL!"

Ben's yell was enough for Victor to stop struggling; Ben nodded at Supergirl, who let him go, but stayed ready, in case she was needed again.

"Victor," Silas said, getting back up, "I am so sorry, son, but I couldn't lose you."

Victor gave his father a hard stare, then slowly nodded. "Can I sit up?"

Silas looked at a chart, then back at his son. "As long as you do so slowly."

Victor slowly sat up, gently turning to look down at Valerie, who was still on the floor. He gently held out a mechanical hand to the girl.

"Sorry about that," he said with genuine remorse.

"It's okay," Valerie said, taking the offered hand and getting up, "You don't know your own strength."

Victor looked at his hands, slowly opening and closing them. "Everything's so… different… but it feels almost natural."

"That's part of the cybernetics in your brain," Silas explained, "Your brain was damaged in the blast, but the advanced CPU in your head is allowing you to assimilate your… changes… without as much difficulty. The only thing you'll have to get used to is your enhanced strength, a side-effect of the level of cybernetics I used. You should be able to tone it down by yourself, but I can limit it to normal levels, if you want."

"Wait a sec," Victor said, slight excitement rising in him as he got over his shock, "Just how strong am I?"

Silas paused a moment to consider it. "Well, at your current specifications, you could lift just over five tons, and you're at least four times faster than the average human being, not to mention the fact that the metal in your chassis could withstand a tank shell."

"Plus, we added a little Kryptonian nanotech," Supergirl added, "So you're self-repairing."

Victor looked down at his new body for a moment, then looked at Valerie and grinned.

"Vic…" Valerie said, leaning back slightly, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"This is incredible!" Victor cried, leaping up, accidentally jumping ten feet into the air and hitting the ceiling, "Ow! Okay, so it might take a little getting used to, but don't you realize what this means?"

"You can win every football game at school singlehanded?" Valerie asked.

"No! Well, okay, yes," Victor said, "I could be a superhero!"

"What?" several people asked at once.

Victor turned to his father. "Dad, you said that your cybernetics could help people. I could do that; I could use the tech that you saved me with to save others!"

Silas was taken aback. "Victor, this is certainly not what I had in mind when I designed the cybernetics…"

"Hey, your tech is helping people," Victor interrupted, "It's just helping people through me."

Silas looked at Ben, who shrugged. "Don't look at me. My kids started fighting crime when they were ten years old; you basically just rebuilt your son into a superhero."

Silas sighed. "You're not going to back down, are you, son?"

Victor only crossed his arms; the fluid motion only convinced Silas that his son was adapting to the cybernetics even better than he could have hoped.

"Very well," Silas said, "But I'm not sending my son out to fight criminals with just the basic equipment."

"Booyah!" Victor pumped a fist, then looked confused. "Wait, what?"

"Why don't you boys explain, while I take Valerie to the teleporters?" Supergirl offered, "She's not even supposed to be on the Watchtower anyway."

"See you later, Vic!" Valerie said, giving her friend a quick hug, which he returned, albeit with exaggerated gentleness.

"Hey, I'm gonna be a superhero," Victor said with a grin, "Call me… Cyborg."

While Ben and Silas explained what they could do to upgrade the newly-minted hero, Supergirl brought Valerie to the teleporters. Before the teenager got on, however, Supergirl grabbed her arm.

"Look, I don't know why you never told Victor or Ken who you are," she said in a dangerous tone, "but you're setting yourself up for a lot of grief down the road. I haven't said anything because your father asked me not to, and he's a good friend of mine, but if you hurt my son…" Supergirl's eyes briefly glowed red, "Well, depending on Ken's reaction, I may or may not have to hide some evidence.

"Do we have an understanding?"

Valerie looked into Supergirl's eyes and calmly nodded.

"We do."

"Good," Supergirl said, then moved to the teleporter controls; when she spoke again, her tone was much friendlier.

"Say hi to your parents for me, okay? I haven't seen them in a couple of weeks." Not waiting for a response, Supergirl activated the teleporters, sending Valerie home.

"What was that all about?" a voice asked from behind Supergirl.

Supergirl turned to see two of her fellow Leaguers. The first, the one who had spoken, was an African-American woman with extremely short hair; she wore a revealing, orange bodysuit with claws at the tips of the fingers, and a necklace with animal charms around her neck. The other was a man dressed as a cowboy, with white pants and wide-brimmed hat, with a dark-blue shirt, brown gloves and a red bandana around the lower half of his face; holstered at his hips were a pair of pistols.

Supergirl addressed the woman. "Oh, nothing, Vixen, just making sure a friend of my son isn't about to stab him in the back."

Vixen smiled. "Ah, mom-stuff; I can relate."

"An' you wonder why Samantha doesn't like you talkin' to her friends," the man, Vigilante, commented, earning himself an elbow to the ribs from his wife.

"Well, between one friend keeping secrets, and another nearly dying," Supergirl said ruefully, "I can't imagine Ken is going to be happy… not that he's happy right now, anyway."

…

**Los Angeles, 17:40 PDT**

"Geez, Ken," Kid Flash commented, "Save some for the rest of us, why don'tcha?"

Ken calmly dropped the Kobra cultist he'd knocked out, then used his X-ray vision to scan the warehouse that the Team had raided. It was the third such safehouse that Kobra had in the city, and according to Batman, both Shimmer and the CD were in LA, and would be there for at least a few more hours. That had given the Team enough time to systematically take down each safehouse.

Or rather, _Ken _had been taking down the safehouses. The rest of the Team had usually hung back to watch their leader vent his anger. It was actually a little frightening; normally, Ken was fairly laidback, if responsible, but now he was tearing through the criminals, yet kept a cold, emotionless expression on his face.

"You want to take down a few?" Ken asked, then pointed to where a pair of cultists were running for the exit, "There. I left you some."

Robin hurled a bola around one cultist's legs, while Starfire threw a starbolt at the other's shoulder, spinning him around, where his head hit the wall.

"Now then," Ken said, grabbing one cultist and holding him up to Miss Martian, "Can you get anything from our friend, here?"

Miss Martian's eyes glowed for a moment, then nodded. "There's another safehouse a mile and a half north of here; Shimmer was seen headed there."

"Then that's where _we're_ headed," Ken said, turning around, "Let's go."

…

An hour passed, and the Team continued to hit each safehouse they came across; each time, Shimmer seemed to be just one step ahead of them.

"This is getting ridiculous," Artemis said, "We might as well be clearing Kobra out of LA!"

"If that's what it takes to get Shimmer and that disk," Ken said, even as he punched another cultist's face, "then that's what we'll do."

"We may have to do that," Miss Martian said, stepping away from another cultist that she'd been telepathically interrogating, "There's only one safehouse left."

"Finally," Superboy growled, cracking his knuckles. The clone had been annoyed with Kobra ever since the Team's first mission, but finding out that they were responsible for his cousin's distress had really ticked him off.

"Wait," Ken said, holding up his hand, "Something's coming… something big."

The Team barely had time to get into a ready position when one of the walls to the safehouse exploded inward, and a massive creature charged through. It was humanoid in nature, but was almost twenty feet tall and seemed to be made out of living stone, while his head was square-shaped, with a brutish face.

"Cinderblock crush!" the creature roared.

"Team, move!" Ken shouted, jumping over the charging brute, "Miss Martian, link us up!"

{Done!} Miss Martian said over the link, {Think this guy is with Kobra?}

{Seems like it,} Ken said, {Robin, Kid Flash, Artemis, Miss Martian, I want you to go after that last safehouse. Do _not _let Shimmer get away with that disk!}

{Will you guys be okay?} Kid Flash asked, even as he and the other three heroes ran out.

{We shall be fine, Kid Flash,} Starfire assured him, then turned to Ken, {Won't we?}

{Yeah, I think I've already figured this guy out,} Ken said, {He's strong, but really, really dumb.}

When the four left, Ken, Superboy, Warhawk and Starfire turned to face Cinderblock.

"Let's rock," Warhawk said, getting looks from the other three heroes, "What? I can't make bad puns?"

"No, no you can't," Ken said, throwing a bolt of Mana at Cinderblock, "Only KF and I can do that."

Cinderblock charged forward, fists swinging; the heroes either jumped out of the way or flew over him. Ken and Starfire hit him with Mana and starbolts, respectively, keeping him pinned long enough for Warhawk to slam his armored fists into the creature's ugly face, while Superboy drove a punch into his gut.

To their surprise, however, Cinderblock barely stumbled from blows that would have reduced boulders to powder.

"This is insane," Warhawk said, "Maybe we should have had the rest of the Team stay with us."

Ken shook his head. "No. Getting that CD back is too important… but we should probably call in backup." Ken raised a hand to the communicator in his ear. "Ken to the Cave—we need some help here. We've got a new supervillain on our hands, calls himself Cinderblock; he's pretty tough."

A second later, the voice of Red Tornado answered. _"Understood. Reinforcements are being teleported in now."_

There was a flash of light behind them, and then a metallic blur charged forward, tackling Cinderblock into a wall.

"Booyah!" a familiar voice cried out.

Ken's eyes went wide when he saw Victor's new body. It was by far an improvement to the last time he'd seen him—he'd been little more than a pile of scorched meat—but it was still a shock. Victor then turned and gave the four heroes a mock-salute.

"Hey, guys," he said, "Cyborg is in the house!"

At the sound of shifting stone, Victor—no, Cyborg—turned his head to see Cinderblock getting back up. Cyborg just smiled and pointed his arm at the creature; his arm then transformed, reconfiguring into a square-shaped cannon that ended in pyramidal barrel.

"D'you like it loud?" Cyborg asked, "Because I sure do!"

A beam of white energy blasted out of the cannon, striking Cinderblock's ugly face. Cyborg kept the beam up for several seconds, only stopping when the creature stopped moving. Once that was done, he turned and grinned.

"Sonic cannon; focused sound-waves overloaded his cortex, knocking him out." Cyborg dusted off some dirt from one mechanical arm. "Not bad for my first try, right?"

Ken approached his friend warily. "Vic? What… what happened to you?"

Cyborg shrugged. "Well, according to Dad, the only way he could have kept me alive was to use his cybernetics… I just convinced him to add a little extra, so that I could do what you do. And I told you to call me Cyborg!"

Ken blinked. He was relieved that his friend was up and moving, but he was a little unnerved by what had happened to him… and how well Victor was adapting to the change.

"Well, Vi—I mean, Cyborg, now that Cinderblock is out of the picture, we need to join up with the rest of the Team and stop Shimmer."

Cyborg's red optic glowed brighter for a moment. "Shimmer. Lieutenant of the terrorist-cult known as Kobra. Wanted for seven counts of murder, fifteen counts of assault, twenty-nine counts of terrorism. Known for being exceptionally skilled in hand-to-hand combat."

The optic then returned it its normal glow. "Cool, looks like I can access the League's criminal database!"

"You're not gonna do that in the middle of a fight, are you?" Superboy asked.

Cyborg tilted his head, as if looking at something no one else could see. "I've just set a parameter in my software to prevent that from happening… which is something I just figured out how to do. Huh, Dad was right; I _am_ getting the hang of this fast!"

Ken nodded. "Okay, no more time to waste; we need to catch up to the others!"

…

{Come on!} Robin shouted over the telepathic link, {We can't let these guys bog us down!}

It hadn't taken Robin, Kid Flash, Artemis and Miss Martian long to reach the last safehouse. Once they did, they were faced with over a hundred Kobra cultists, and behind them, getting ready to get onto a helicopter, was Shimmer.

The four heroes had been attacked the second they had entered the safehouse, and were being held back from their target by the cultists sheer numbers.

Fortunately, a familiar voice was heard over the link.

{Guys, Cinderblock is down,} Ken said, a very positive note in his voice, {We're about ten seconds away, and we've got backup!}

Before anyone could ask what Ken was talking about, two figures broke through the upper half of the wall, landing next to the four. One was recognized as Superboy, but they didn't know who the other was, a hulking giant of a guy, whose body seemed more machine than flesh. A few seconds later Ken, Warhawk and Starfire flew through the hole the two had made.

"Hey," the new guy said to the four who hadn't met him yet, "I'm Cyborg; s'up?"

"Um, hi," Miss Martian said, "Oh, I'll patch you into the link."

{Cyborg, are you online?} Ken asked.

{Whoa, this is trippy,} Cyborg replied.

{Now that that's done,} Robin said, {Can we get to work?}

{Absolutely,} Ken grinned, {Cyborg, Artemis, Starfire: you and I will open a path for Kid Flash. KF, you get that disk from Shimmer; everyone else, cover him!}

Cyborg didn't need any more encouragement, both of his arms transforming into grenade-launchers. He and Artemis began launching explosives at the cultists; Ken and Starfire joined in with lightning and starbolts, while Superboy, Warhawk, Robin and Miss Martian took down the handful of cultists that were still in Kid Flash's way. The speedster in question then dashed past the groaning cultists and up to Shimmer, shoulder-checking her and knocking the disk out of her hand. Before anyone could stop the Kobra lieutenant, however, she threw a flash-bang grenade, blinding the Team long enough to get away, along with dozens of cultists who hadn't been hit by the heroes' attacks.

Cyborg looked around at the defeated terrorists, then at the Team. "Man, is it always like this?"

The Team looked at each other, then shrugged as one.

"Pretty much," Kid Flash said, fist-bumping the new hero.

"Now that that's over," Ken said, looking up at Cyborg, "You have a lot of explaining to do."

…

**Mount Justice, 23:27 EDT**

Once the Team and Cyborg returned to the Cave, Cyborg told them what had happened to him, and how he had convinced his father to upgrade his systems in order to fight supervillains. While most of the Team were happy that Victor had helped them, Ken was still a little unsure.

"What about going to school?" Ken asked, "You kind of stick out now."

Cyborg nodded, briefly looking down at himself. "Yeah, I know, but your dad gave me something to help out with that."

He held up a blank mask with circuitry on the inside; once he placed it on his face, a hologram materialized around him. He now looked exactly like his old self!

"Amazing!" Starfire said, "Ken's father gave you an ID mask as well?"

Since arriving on Earth, Starfire had been using an ID mask to make her look like a pale-skinned, normal-eyed human girl when she was socializing outside of the Cave.

"Yeah," Cyborg said, "I can't do sports anymore, not without hurting someone by accident, but other than that, I can still have a pretty normal life."

"Well, that solves that issue," Warhawk said, "But what are you going to do, now that you have enough firepower to level a city block?"

Cyborg shrugged. "I was hoping that you guys would let me on the Team…"

Ken found himself getting stared at by the rest of the Team. He walked up to his friend and grinned.

"Hey, every team needs a star athlete, right?" Ken held out his hand. "Welcome aboard."

Cyborg shook his hand, a wide grin on his face. "Booyah!"

…

**New York City, 23:45**

"Seriously?" Samantha Saunders asked her parents, her eyes sparkling in excitement, "You're going to ask Batman if I can join the Team?"

Greg Saunders removed the red bandana that normally concealed his identity and smiled at his daughter. "Yep. Your mom is hashin' out the details with ol' Bats as we speak."

Samantha pumped a fist. "All right! When can I meet the Team?"

Greg sighed, long-since used to his daughter's usual hyperactive nature. "Probably in a day or two, so hold yer horses. Get yer stuff squared away, little missy; ya don't wanna go to the rodeo without yer lasso."

"Right, right," Samantha jumped up and hugged him. "Thanks, Dad!"

Before Greg could respond, Samantha dashed up to her room, where she pulled out her costume and her rubber-bullet-firing shotgun.

_Okay, Team, _she thought, _get ready to meet Safari!_

...

**Seattle, WA, 20:48 PDT**

Though Valerie Sage went to school in San Francisco, she actually lived in Seattle, teleporting back and forth with the private teleporter at her home. Until today, she hadn't felt any guilt over keeping her secret from Ken and Victor, but after today… maybe if Ken had known about her, they might have found Victor sooner, and he wouldn't have been hurt.

And then there was what Supergirl had said to her. Valerie had never considered how hurt Ken would be if he found out her secret. She knew Victor would also be hurt, but he had always been quick to forgive. Ken, however, would be much more upset; he had told her his secret not long after meeting her, but she had never done the same… but she had never wanted to hurt Ken.

It was with a troubled expression that she entered her house. "I'm home."

"Is something wrong?" a voice whose owner normally wasn't at the house asked.

Valerie looked up in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

A young-looking woman with long, black hair like Valerie's raised an eyebrow. "What, no 'hi, Mom, I missed you'?"

Valerie ran up and wrapped her arms around her mother, Helena Bertinelli. "Sorry, Mom; I just had a bad day."

Helena, whose alter-ego was Huntress, returned the hug. "I heard from your father. How's Vic handling his new… situation?"

"He seemed okay with it," Valerie said, as she and her mother sat down on the couch, "I think he's going to join the Team."

Helena nodded. "But that's not why you're upset, is it?"

Valerie hung her head. "It's about Ken. He still doesn't know about me, and if he did, maybe we could have saved Victor from…"

"Don't get hung up on what could have been," a male voice said from behind, causing mother and daughter to turn around to see a man wearing blue pants, overcoat and fedora, an orange shirt with a black tie, black shoes and gloves. His most prominent feature was his lack of a face, which was really a mask that gave that impression.

"Hi, Dad," Valerie said, giving a small wave.

"Oh, _he _gets a hello," Helena joked, earning another hug from her daughter.

The man known as The Question, AKA Victor Sage, walked up to them. "You have a problem, one that's easily fixed. It's simple: you tell Ken who you are. If my profile on him is accurate, which it is, he'll be upset, but he'll forgive you."

"You have a profile on him?" Helena asked, bemused.

Question shrugged. "I have a file on every boy our daughter affiliates with."

"Dad!" Valerie protested, while Helena only rolled her eyes.

Even though Helena and Victor had been lovers for years, they had never married; between Question's constant search for connections that no one else saw, and Huntress's constant travel, they could never settle down as a family, even when Helena had gotten pregnant. While Huntress had regained her Justice League membership, she preferred to work alone, unless there was an emergency. Still, Helena made it a point to visit her daughter as often as possible, while Valerie lived with her father.

"Your dad makes a good point," Helena said, "Ken has been your friend for years. Yeah, you kept a secret from him, a big one, but from what Supergirl and Ben have told me, he's very mature. I'm sure he'll forgive you… and if he doesn't, I'm sure I have a few Kryptonite-tipped arrows lying around."

"Mom!" Valerie scolded, "You're _not _going to kill him!"

Helena shrugged. "If you say so, kiddo."

Valerie then looked down at her hands. "So… how am I going to tell him?"

Helena patted her daughter's back. "Quick, that's how; like ripping off a band-aid."

"And I have a way for you to become associated with the Team," Question said, pulling a file out of his coat and handing it to his daughter, "Study the facts in this. Memorize what seems important, even if it doesn't appear so at first; any detail could hold the answer."

Valerie took the folder and began poring over its contents, as her father continued. "You have twenty-four hours. After that, we'll present the facts to Batman. I've already discussed it with him, and he's agreed to give you a trial-run."

"Victor!" Helena said sternly, "You could have told me that you were signing out daughter up with a covert-ops team of superheroes!"

Question tilted his head. "What would you have said if I told you?"

Helena huffed. "Well, I would have said yes, but that's not the point! I'm her mother, I should know about these things! Valerie, back me up here! Um, Valerie?... Valerie?"

Both parents heard a slight thump and turned to see Valerie headed up to her room, her face still buried in the file. Helena looked at Question, who had an 'I told you so' look behind his mask.

"I'm still mad at you," she said.

…

Valerie spent an hour looking over the details of the file, before deciding she needed to get the blood flowing to her brain. She opened her closet and pulled out a telescopic nightstick; she began swinging it in various patterns, adding in punches with her free hand, as well as a series of kicks.

After a few minutes of that, she stopped, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and pulled out her costume, checking it for any creases, stains or tears. Seeing none, she sat back at her desk and began looking through the file again.

_Ken is going to hate me, _she thought, _but maybe I'll be able to earn his trust back… as Seeker._

**And there we go! Cyborg's first outing, bringing in a Teen Titans villain, and preparation for two new heroines joining the Team! By the way, I used the version of Cyborg from _Injustice: Gods Among Us_.**

**You might be wondering why I have Vigilante and Vixen together, but if you remember one particular chapter of Ben 10: Unlimited, I hinted at them having a relationship, so I decided to run with it. And thus, Safari was born!**

**As for Valerie's parentage… I think a lot of you figured out who they were pretty fast. I also decided to let Huntress back into the League, just 'cause. **

**Next chapter, two more OCs join the Team, and secrets are blown wide open!**

**Muffin Titans, go!**


	11. Head of the Snake

**BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. YOUNG JUSTICE DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY OC'S DO, AND THEY'RE CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED TO OBEY MY COMMANDS.**

**Hi, everyone! I think most of you were looking forward to this chapter: the introduction of Safari and Seeker!**

**Without further preamble, let the chapter begin!**

Unlimited Justice, Part 1

Chapter 10

Head of the Snake

**Brazil, August 24, 18:49 EDT**

As his minions hacked their way through the jungle, the criminal known as Kobra started to frown. While he had been assured that they were quickly nearing their goal, he still felt like they were taking too long. When one of his cultists actually had the gall to argue that point, Kobra had made sure to make an example of that one.

Seeing their comrade eaten alive by an anaconda had shut the rest up fairly quickly.

"Exalted One," one of the cultists said, drawing Kobra out of his musings, "We have arrived at the Temple of the Serpent."

"Good," Kobra said, stepping into a small clearing, where a massive ziggurat sat; engraved into every side were carvings of snakes, still visible, even after centuries of exposure to the elements.

"Is everything prepared for my ascension?" Kobra asked one of the cultists.

"Yes, Exalted One," the cultist, a woman, said with a bow, "All the reagents have been gathered and are ready for the ceremony."

"Excellent," Kobra said with a hint of a smile, "My time in this fleshly body is at an end; the time for true divinity is now."

As his cult scurried to prepare for the ritual, Kobra briefly thought back to his partners; those mysterious figures who had funded his operations, in exchange for support and security. While they were aware of his ambitions—indeed, most of the world knew of his proclamation of godhood—they certainly didn't know that he planned to abandon them for his own agenda. They would certainly disapprove, and might even move to interfere…

He dismissed the thought; even if they knew when he was planning his ascension, only he knew the location of this temple. He glanced down at the small amulet he'd hung around his neck, and the tiny emeralds used for the snake-emblem's eyes seemed to sparkle for him. He let a very ungodly grin briefly cross his face; no one could stop him now.

…

**Mount Justice, 18:56 PDT**

While Ken hadn't been told why he had to arrive, alone, at the Cave, he wasn't as worried as he was last time. The last time he had come alone, he was merely being introduced to Artemis and told that both she and Starfire were joining the Team; it was his responsibility, as leader, to meet all new members first. Since Ken hadn't done anything wrong—that he knew of, anyway—he could only assume that more people were joining.

If that was the case, Ken was a little surprised at how many members they were getting. With Cyborg joining, they were already at nine; how many young heroes were even out there? To his knowledge, only a handful; while there were a lot of couples within the Justice League, not many had had children, mostly because they had plenty of time for that, thanks to their extremely slow aging.

"_Recognized: Ken 10, B-01," _the Cave's computer announced as he teleported in.

Ken stepped off the teleporter platform and saw that there were quite a few more heroes present than normal. There was Red Tornado, Black Canary and Batman, but they were almost always present; what surprised Ken was that _both _of his parents were there—to his knowledge, Supergirl had never been in the Cave before—as well as Vigilante, Vixen, Question and Huntress.

_Now_ Ken was a little nervous.

While the computer's announcement had alerted everyone to Ken's arrival, his parents were the first to approach him.

"Mom, Dad, what's going on?" Ken asked, "Did something happen? Is everyone okay?"

"Everyone's… okay," Supergirl said evasively, "The Team is just getting a couple of new members."

Before Ken could sigh in relief, his father put a hand on his shoulder.

"The thing is, Ken… just don't freak out when you meet one of them."

Now Ken was confused. "Why would I freak out?"

Supergirl sighed. "You'll see."

As Ben and Supergirl stepped back, Batman approached the teleporter. "I'm bringing in the first one now."

A few seconds later, someone began to teleport in.

"_Recognized: Safari, B-10."_

Ken blinked at the new arrival that stepped off the platform. She was as tall as him, with light-brown skin and a well-toned form that was clad in brown combat boots, loose, dark-green shorts that came down to her knees, a tucked-in, beige button-up shirt with a white shirt underneath, and black, sleeveless gloves. On top of her head was a hat much like Indiana Jones'—it even had one side pinned up. A few black curls poked out from underneath the hat. Slung around her torso was a brown belt that was lined with cartridges, and holstered on her back was a large, pump-action shotgun.

Ken had never met Safari in person, though he had occasionally seen her on the news, fighting alongside her parents. He had also heard a few things from his own parents: she was an expert in most types of firearms, and possessed superhuman strength, durability and agility—the latter had been due to her mother using her mystical animal powers while pregnant.

"So, you're Ken 10, huh?" Safari said, holding out her hand, while a wide smile was on her face, "I am so psyched to be working with you and the rest of the Team!"

Ken could see that Safari was practically bouncing in excitement, and found that her enthusiasm was infectious; it was with a grin of his own that he shook her hand.

"I'm looking forward to working with you, too," he said, "And I'm sure that the rest of the Team will say the same."

"Speaking of the rest of the Team," Safari let go of Ken's hand and looked around, "Where are they? I don't wanna sound full of it, but I thought more of them would be here to welcome a new member?"

"They'll be here soon," Vixen said, giving her daughter a one-armed hug, "Ken just has to meet new members beforehand; it's a leader thing, I guess. Now, while Ken meets the other new girl, why don't I show you around the place?"

"Cool!" as her parents led her away, she waved back at Ken, "See you in a bit!"

Ken waved back, as Question made his way to the teleporter and typed away; a moment later, another person—due to Vixen's comment, Ken knew it was a girl—began to materialize.

"_Recognized: Seeker, B-11."_

If Ken hadn't had his eyes exactly where Seeker was, he might have missed her altogether. She was a few inches shorter than he was, but her features were completely concealed. She wore black boots, with gray, formfitting body armor on her legs; whatever she wore on her torso was covered by a long, black coat that reached down to her ankles and was zipped up from the waist to her throat, while dark-gray gloves and armor covered her hands and forearms. Despite being completely covered up, it was impossible to ignore the girl's curves, which were quite obvious. On the outside of the coat was a black belt, which had a multitude of pouches, plus a telescopic nightstick that hung from her left hip. Covering her face was a gray, featureless mask; not even eye-lenses were present. On top of her head was a black fedora, which concealed all of her hair, save for a long, black braid that fell to the middle of her back.

Distracted by the new arrival, Ken never saw the look of unease that passed between Ben, Supergirl and Huntress; if Question was uneasy, no one could tell.

Seeker approached Ken and nodded at him. "Ken 10. Good to be working with you."

The second Seeker spoke, Ken froze; he _knew _that voice, even if it had spoken without any emotion, had heard it coming from just one mouth for years. But it just wasn't possible! She would have told him about something like this… right? Though it went against everything he had been taught about secret identities, Ken activated his X-ray vision; he couldn't help it, he just had to know.

As soon as he saw underneath the mask, it felt like Superboy had just punched him in the gut. He opened his mouth to speak, but Seeker held up her hand, just over his mouth.

"We'll talk about it later."

Ken closed his mouth, then turned to give his parents a withering glare. Suddenly their reactions made sense; they knew who Seeker was and had never told him! He wasn't completely sure who he was angrier at for keeping the secret—his parents or his best friend.

Finally, he nodded, though his eyes were narrowed in anger, distrust, and most of all, hurt. "Fine, later; but you'd better tell me why."

Seeker hesitated for less than a second, and then nodded back.

The two younger heroes stood next to each other in silence, while the older ones looked at each other with varying degrees of guilt and worry. The only ones who showed no emotion were Batman, Red Tornado and Question; Red Tornado, because he was incapable of showing emotion, and Batman and Question because they had such rigid self-control.

When Safari, Vixen and Vigilante came back, they noticed the tension between Ken and Seeker; Safari held back, not wanting to get in the middle of it, while her parents, who knew the reason, moved next to Ben and Supergirl.

"Well then," Ben said, finally fed up with the silence, "I guess most of us will go, while Batman briefs the Team on their next mission. Does that sound good to you guys? Good, let's go!"

The parents all stepped onto the teleporter and were quickly sent to the Watchtower, though Ben and Supergirl saw the glare Ken shot their way. They immediately felt even more guilt; they were going to have to work very hard to rebuild their son's trust in them.

A few minutes after they were gone, the rest of the Team teleported in. It only took a moment for them to realize that something was wrong; even the newer members knew that Ken was generally in a positive mood, so the hard look on his face was a noticeable difference.

"Dude, you okay?" Kid Flash asked.

Ken took a deep breath before answering. "I'm fine, KF, just some… personal stuff. Anyway, this is Safari and… Seeker."

No one missed the slight hesitation when Ken introduced Seeker, nor how he was less enthusiastic. It was immediately obvious that Ken's personal problem _was _Seeker. Superboy started to scowl at the girl, despite not knowing her, but the slightest shaking from Ken's head made him back off; clearly, whatever the deal was, Ken wanted to handle it himself.

Black Canary then stepped in. "Ken's problems aren't the issue at hand; your mission is."

Batman activated the holo-computer, showing a map of South America and a picture of Kobra. "After the events of two days ago, the terrorist cult, Kobra, began acting strange. Until now, their MO had been to claim responsibility for all of their actions; their attack on STAR Labs was the exception to this. We've tracked them to Brazil, where we believe that Kobra will use a mystical ritual to become a god."

Every member of the Team stared at the Dark Knight.

"He wants to what?" Artemis asked skeptically.

"It fits his psychological profile," Seeker said suddenly, though in an emotionless tone, as she brought up a holo-computer from her glove, like Robin's, "Kobra has always declared that he was a god in living flesh; the next step would be for him to attempt to shed the human skin… so to speak."

"Where in Brazil is this ritual supposed to take place?" Ken asked, his anger momentarily forgotten, in light of the threat posed, "And if this is so big, why isn't the League handling this?"

"In order to prevent our interference, Kobra has launched attacks all over the world, stretching the League thin," Batman explained, "The Team will be on its own, hence the addition of two more members today. You will also be teleported as close to where we believe the ritual is taking place, and Ship will not be joining you; he's assisting the League today."

"How do we know where the ritual is supposed to take place?" Warhawk asked.

"We received an anonymous tip," Batman explained, "It wasn't until Kobra began launching all of the attacks that we knew it was true, and while we don't know the exact coordinates of the ritual, Zatanna was able to get a rough estimate of its location. Once you're on the ground, it should be relatively easy for Ken and Superboy to get a fix on Kobra's position, since he'll be surrounded by his cult; they'll be making plenty of noise."

Ken looked at his teammates, including his new ones; they all nodded at each other, knowing that this was one of those missions that they couldn't afford to fail.

"Let's go," Ken said, heading to the teleporter.

…

**Brazil, 20:12 EDT**

For the first hour after the Team arrived in Brazil, it had been uneventful. The Team was well on its way to the suspected location of Kobra, but the jungle made slow going for several members; due to the thick foliage, Warhawk, Starfire and Miss Martian were unable to fly. Without eyes above them, Ken had himself and Cyborg, with their superhuman senses and advanced sensors, respectively, up front.

Of course, there was another reason they were up front: they could have a conversation away from prying ears. Normally, Superboy would be able to listen in as well, but he was in the back, focusing his super-hearing on anything that might sneak up behind them, so it wasn't an issue.

"It's really her, right?" Cyborg asked quietly, "My hearing isn't on the fritz, right?"

"I wish it was, man," Ken said sadly, "I saw past her mask; it's Val."

"Why didn't she tell us?" Cyborg didn't sound as upset as Ken felt, "I mean, you told us who you were just a few weeks after you met us, and she could've been doing this for years."

"Trust me, it's on my list of questions for her once we're done here," Ken assured him.

"Still," Cyborg said, mostly to himself, "It's pretty cool that the three of us are superheroes together."

"That's all that matters to you?" Ken demanded quietly, "She lied to us for _years_! It's going to be a while before I can trust her again… if I ever do."

Cyborg suppressed a sigh. He knew Ken long enough to know that he'd eventually come around; he was upset, true, but Valerie had been Ken's first friend in his civilian life, so Cyborg was sure that they'd patch things up eventually.

It wasn't just Ken and Cyborg who were having conversations; Safari was chatting animatedly, if quietly, with Kid Flash, while Warhawk and Artemis spoke to Seeker.

"So, what exactly can you do?" Artemis asked the other girl, "I mean, do you have any powers, like Ken, or are you more like Robin?"

Artemis had purposefully used Ken as an example in order to see what Seeker's reaction would be. She had seen how Ken had been wary of the girl, and despite trying to stay aloof, Artemis was finding it difficult not to be protective of her teammates.

If Seeker was thrown off by Artemis' question, she didn't show it through body language. "I'm proficient in hacking, information-gathering and close-quarters-combat."

"What styles of combat?" Warhawk asked, genuinely curious.

"The unorthodox kind," Seeker replied, then tilted her head at Artemis, "Something you would know quite a bit about."

Artemis paled, then glared at the other girl. "How do you…"

"I do my homework," was the enigmatic response, "On another note, between your higher-than-average metabolism, normal exercise, training and missions, I can see why you have such a high-protein diet."

Now, Artemis just looked creeped out. "What, do you go through my trash!?"

"Please," Seeker sounded almost offended, "I go through _everyone's _trash."

Artemis and Warhawk looked at each other uneasily.

Ken suddenly stopped moving, causing the rest of the Team to freeze; he turned to Miss Martian, then tapped the side of his head, signaling her to establish a telepathic link.

{Everyone online?} the Martian asked, and got ten affirmatives.

{Oh, wow, this is cool!} Safari said, her eyes wide, {So, everyone can hear what I'm thinking?}

{At first, yeah,} Robin replied, {But don't worry, you'll get the hang of controlling your thoughts soon enough.}

{Got it,} Safari said, walking up next to Cyborg and glancing at him, {I wonder if he likes heavy metal?}

Everyone stared at her. She quickly clapped her hands over her mouth, even though she had spoken with her mind. Cyborg, for his part, didn't take any offense at the statement.

{It's a recently-acquired taste,} he said with a smile.

Safari returned the smile, though hers was tinged with relief. With that potential awkwardness averted, Ken waved over Robin and, reluctantly, Seeker.

{Is there anything about Kobra and his personal guard that we should know about?} Ken asked.

Both Robin and Seeker brought up their holo-computers.

{The cultists with Kobra himself are on par with the special forces of most militaries,} Seeker said, {Their weapons are likely of the same quality.}

{Understood,} Ken said, his mind more on the mission than his personal gripes, {I want everyone who isn't bulletproof to stay mobile; don't give them a chance to put you down. What about Kobra himself?}

{I can answer that,} Robin replied, {Superhuman durability, speed and strength… I know that last one from personal experience. He's also totally convinced that he can never lose, so he'll fight like he's invincible.}

{Which he might become, if we don't stop that ceremony,} Ken mused, then gathered up the rest of the Team and pointed to the clearing in the distance. {Okay, I can hear chanting over there, and the Mana in the area feels all kinds of funky, so here's what we'll do: Superboy, Warhawk, Starfire, Cyborg and I will create a distraction, while everyone else will do what they can to disrupt that ritual. Robin, you're in charge of the second squad.}

{What happens if the Kobra succeeds?} Starfire asked, {How can we fight against a god?}

Ken hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. {We'll just have to make sure it doesn't come to that.}

With that said, the Team split up; Ken led his squad to where most of the cultists were gathered, while Robin led everyone else around to the back of the ziggurat. Ken's squad waited at the edge of the tree-line, until Robin spoke over the link.

{We're in position; go!}

Ken looked at his squad and grinned. {You heard him, make some noise!}

Cyborg and Superboy moved first, jumping into the air to land amongst a group of cultists. Ken, Warhawk and Starfire were right behind them; each of them was yelling and using their abilities as noisily as possible, the better to distract Kobra.

It also didn't hurt that they were having a little fun at the same time.

…

As soon as the distinctive sound of Superboy crashing feet-first into the ground reached Robin's ears, he nodded at his squad.

{Come on, let's go! KF, Miss M, you're on point; the rest of us will be right behind you.}

{Got it,} Kid Flash said, dashing off and knocking out the first cultist he saw; a second one aimed his rifle at the speedster, but then he was lifted into the air and slammed into the ground, thanks to Miss Martian's telekinesis.

{Thanks,} Kid Flash said, giving a two-fingered salute; then his eyes went wide. {Look out!}

Behind Miss Martian, a half-dozen cultists arrived; Kid Flash was able to run forward and take one out, but he wasn't sure if he could disable the remaining five before one of them opened fire, alerting the others.

Fortunately, he didn't have to; an knockout-gas-dispersing arrow flew past two of the cultists, taking them down, while Robin and Seeker knocked out two more with swift blows to pressure-points. The last one was taken down when Safari jumped twenty feet into the air and kicking the cultist's head into the jungle floor.

The two new members adjusted their respective hats, while Safari grinned.

{Okay, I have to say that this covert-ops stuff is way more fun that stopping bank-robbers!}

{Hey, Kobra's pretty tame in comparison to what we've fought before,} Kid Flash said, {Stick around a while, then see how much fun it is.}

{I think I'll do just that,} Safari said confidently.

{Focus, people,} Robin cut in, {We need to get to the top of the ziggurat, before…}

Across the clearing, the fighting paused, as bolts of purple lightning shot up in all directions from the top of the ziggurat.

{Robin!} Ken's voice shouted into the other squad's minds, {Whatever's going on, you need to stop it now!}

"Move!" Robin yelled, discarding any further attempts at stealth, in exchange for speed.

Robin fired his grapple-gun and flew towards the top of the temple, while Safari used her enhanced strength to jump several-dozen steps per bound, Kid Flash raced up, and Miss Martian levitated herself, Artemis and Seeker right behind them.

When they reached the top, they found Kobra standing in the center of a circle, while the bolts of lightning from before were shooting from his palms.

"The children from Santa Prisca," Kobra hissed, his voice actually more snakelike, "And I see that you've added a few to your number since the last time we met… not that it will matter, for you are too late! My ascension is at hand!"

"Don't bet on it!" Safari yelled, pulling out her shotgun and firing. The shot deflected harmlessly off of Kobra's chest, much to the heroes' surprise; although only rubber bullets, the close-range shot should have at least done something.

"Guys!" on the other side of the roof, Ken and his squad showed up, "The cultists all stopped fighting and _what the heck is with this guy_!?"

"We were too late," Seeker said simply.

"Yesss," Kobra said, his voice changing even further, "You were indeed too late; now watch, asss I reach the zenith of my power!"

"Take him down!" Ken shouted; all eleven of the heroes attacked, but everything they hit him with simply bounced off. Superboy and Cyborg tried to grapple him, but Kobra flung them away like they were less than nothing. The only one Kobra seemed to actively target was Warhawk, who was flung backwards through the air by Kobra's lightning. The seemingly invincible villain then walked up to the edge of the roof and thrust his fists into the air.

"My ssservantsss!" he roared, "Tonight, your loyal ssservice shall be rewarded! You will become the final cobblestonesss on my path to godhood!"

"Hail Kobra!" the cultists below began to chant, "Hail Kobra! Hail Kobra!"

Kobra opened his mouth, which stretched impossibly wide, and a dark cloud poured out; it flew towards the groveling cultists, enveloping them. When it passed, the dozens of cultists had withered away to cloth and bones.

"Oh, dude," Kid Flash said, shocked, "That is so messed up."

"Yes, that is… just plain freaky," Starfire said uneasily.

"Now what do we do?" Warhawk asked, turning to Ken, but the Team's leader was nowhere to be found. "Uh, Ken?"

"Over here!" Ken said, standing near where Kobra had been, studying the circle of strange runes that lay there. "Seeker, Robin, Cyborg, get over here!"

"Hey, shouldn't we be focused on Kobra?" Cyborg demanded.

"We can't hurt him," Ken pointed out, then pointed to the runes, "but this might help."

"How?" Cyborg asked, only to have his question answered by Seeker.

"We compare the images in the circle, finding all relevant information about them, using both the internet and the League's own data on magic. We could find a weakness there."

"Exactly," Ken said, "You three do that, while the rest of us try to keep Kobra busy."

"Wait a sec," Cyborg said, "I think I have an idea how I can help speed up the search and fight; Robin, Seeker, can I see your holo-computers?"

The two heroes presented their gloves; Cyborg then pointed his hand at them, and two long cables shot out and embedded themselves into the circuitry within. Cyborg's cybernetic eye glowed brighter for a second.

"There you go," he said, withdrawing the cables, "I just replaced your computers' processing power with my own subroutines; it'll speed up the process by about three-hundred percent. You're gonna have to replace it afterwards, though; those computers aren't able to handle my processing power for long."

"It'll be worth it," Ken said, patting Cyborg on the back, "Let's go!"

When they ran off, Seeker looked at Robin. "How fast can you type?"

Robin grinned and wiggled the fingers of his free hand. "Like lightning."

While they began working on deciphering the runes, Ken and Cyborg rejoined the others, who were unsure of what to do about Kobra. The cult leader was ignoring them, in favor of observing his death-cloud.

"So, do we have a plan yet?" Superboy asked.

Ken shrugged. "We're waiting on Robin and Seeker to come up with a plan; until then, we hold off Kobra."

"Right, hold off a god," Artemis said with a roll of her eyes, "And how are we supposed to do that?"

Ken's eyes briefly landed on Warhawk. "I think I know why Kobra attacked you over everyone else."

Warhawk glanced down at his gauntlets and smiled. "Of course, Nth-Metal! It's like anti-magic."

"Exactly," Ken said, "We'll keep him busy, until you find an opening. It's our best shot, until Robin and Seeker find a way to put him down for good."

"Uh, guys?" Kid Flash said uneasily, "Something's going on with Voldemort over here."

The death-cloud Kobra had spat out had now gone back into his mouth, and his body started to swell; his legs grew longer, then morphed together to form a massive tail, while his torso and arms grew scaly, and his hands became clawed. His canines grew much longer and needle-thin, while his nose completely vanished. Kobra's entire body was now over fifty feet long, and rippling with muscle.

"Hey, what's with all the snakes?" Safari asked, pointing at the ground near Kobra; it appeared that normal-sized snakes were raining down from somewhere, but they couldn't see where until Artemis looked up.

"Oh, gross! They're coming out of his shoulders!"

Sure enough, there was a large hole on each of Kobra's shoulders, and a torrent of snakes were pouring out.

"Okay, that's traumatic," Ken said.

"Is that normal for human gods?" Starfire asked, who looked queasy.

"No," was the response from everyone else.

"Yeah, that's the freakiest thing I've ever seen," Safari commented, "I have nightmares where that happens to my legs."

Cyborg, who was closest, made a face. "Suddenly, I'm glad that I don't even _have_ normal legs anymore."

The new God-Kobra turned to face them and smiled, or as much as a snake-man could, at least.

"**Ssso," **he hissed, **"my firssst sssacrificccesss asss a god… how deliciousss."**

"Go ahead and give it your best shot," Superboy growled, "I've been looking to get some snakeskin boots."

"And I'm sure there will be enough for a purse, too," Starfire added, her hands glowing with green energy.

"Hey, we can all have snakeskin stuff," Kid Flash joked, "It can be team-thing!"

"**Sssilence!" **Kobra roared, **"I shall kill all of you!"**

"Try and get us!" Ken taunted, then switched to the telepathic link. {Lead big and ugly here away from Robin and Seeker; buy them as much time as you can!}

In order to draw Kobra away, Ken fired a bolt of lightning from his mouth at the new god; it vaporized a few of the snakes, but did little more than leave a small, black mark on Kobra's chest. It did, however, make the god angry; Ken led the others off the side of the ziggurat, and Kobra followed.

Despite being a god, he was not truly all-knowing, and he didn't notice the two figures who were hunched over the runes behind him.

"What about here?" Robin asked his fellow hacker, speaking out loud so as not to distract the rest of the Team.

Seeker shook her head. "No, too early, and the symbol at the three o'clock position is off. Narrow down your search between 350 and 480 CE."

"How do you know it's there?" Robin asked, even as he did as Seeker instructed.

"The patterns are there," Seeker replied, not looking away from her holo-computer, "I've been studying Kobra's habits longer than you have."

"So, what's with the hate for Kobra?" Robin asked, even as he typed, "I noticed that you were pretty brutal to that cultist you beat up, and that's coming from someone that _Batman _says is too rough."

"Everyone in the cult deserves it," Seeker said, anger clouding her normally emotionless tone.

"Geez, what did Kobra do?" Robin asked, almost sorry for the cultists, until he remembered that they were dead.

"They blew up one of my best friends," Seeker said, then hesitated for a moment before continuing, "You met him recently: Cyborg."

Robin almost stopped typing. "Wait, so Cyborg knows who you are?"

Seeker nodded. "Ken does, too. I knew about Ken's identity, but I never told him I was doing the same thing he was. He feels betrayed."

"He seemed all right to me," Robin said with a shrug.

"I know everything about him," Seeker said, "Believe me, he's bottling it up until the mission is over."

"And then he'll get mad at you?" Robin guessed.

"Yes. Whether or not he'll ever trust me again is—there!"

"What?" Robin asked, looking over at Seeker's screen.

"I found the details of the ritual," Seeker explained, "and I know how to stop Kobra!"

"Great!" Robin switched to the telepathic link. {Guys, we have the answer; are you ready? … Guys?}

Robin and Seeker looked out over the side of the temple, and saw that several trees were falling down in the distance, the area lit up occasionally by explosions and various powers.

"Do you think that Miss Martian is incapacitated, and the link went down?" Seeker asked.

"Dunno," Robin said, "Maybe that, or we're out of range. Either way, are you up for a run?"

Seeker stood up and dusted off her legs. "Just try and keep up."

The two took off down the side of the temple, hoping that things weren't going badly.

…

Things were going badly.

While the Team had managed to lure Kobra away, they weren't making much headway in actually damaging the new god. Most of their attacks barely scratched Kobra, while Warhawk had been taken down a few minutes ago, when the god had gotten a lucky strike in, smashing the winged hero headfirst into a tree. Miss Martian had gone down just a few seconds later, and now the Team was without two of their greatest advantages in this fight.

It didn't stop them from trying to win, however.

"Booyah!" Cyborg yelled, as he fired his sonic cannon, the high-powered noise actually driving Kobra back slightly.

Safari used the distraction to jump first to a tree, and then onto Kobra's head, where she began firing her shotgun at point-blank.

"I got eight seconds!" she yelled, hopping away just before Kobra brought his massive hand up to smash her; he missed, and ended up slapping himself in the head.

Cyborg laughed and high-fived Safari as she landed next to him. "That was awesome! I can't believe he fell for that!"

"Oldest trick in the book," Safari said, shrugging, "He should've watched more cartoons."

"Yeah," Cyborg agreed, "Hey, can you keep him busy for a sec? I've got an idea."

"No prob!" Safari ran in close, fearlessly blasting away with her shotgun.

While she kept Kobra busy, Cyborg crouched slightly; when he did, two large thrusters emerged from his back, and suddenly, Cyborg was rocketing into the air. Once he was above Kobra, he transformed both of his arms into grenade-launchers.

"Incoming!" he yelled, before firing a barrage of explosives at Kobra's head. The large blast was enough to cause a small lull in the fighting, allowing the conscious heroes to get their second wind.

"Since when can you fly?" Ken asked, as Cyborg landed next to him.

"Since right after my first mission," Cyborg said, "Dad put those thrusters in when I said that jumping around isn't always the answer."

"It is for me," Superboy said with a raised eyebrow.

"This fight is pointless," Artemis complained, "We can't do anything to this guy; plus, I'm almost out of trick arrows!"

"How much longer until Robin and Seeker finish?" Kid Flash asked, "I don't know if we can hold Kobra off anymore."

Ken was about to answer, until his super-hearing caught a familiar heartbeat—no, _two _familiar heartbeats—coming in fast.

"I don't think we'll have to," he said, smiling slightly; his smile faded, however, when Kobra charged at them again, forcing them to dodge.

"Ken! We figured it out!" Ken turned to see Robin—who had shouted—and Seeker arrive.

"It's the amulet! All of the magic energy is focused through it!" Seeker yelled, pointing at Kobra, "Destroy it, and he loses all his power!"

The god briefly glanced down at the amulet, which had grown in size, along with him.

"**Sssilence, insssect!" **Kobra roared, diving towards Seeker, **"You lessser beingsss will never take away my power!"**

Ken tried to intervene when he saw where Kobra was going, but he was a second too late; Seeker was sent flying by a vicious backhand. Ken didn't hesitate; he jumped thirty feet into the air to catch Seeker. When he landed, he glared at the god.

"Get that amulet!" he shouted, "And then take him down!"

Robin and Cyborg started things off, the former hurling an explosive disk, and the latter firing his sonic cannon; unintentionally, the two attacks merged, creating a much larger explosion. The two heroes glanced at each other in surprise.

"We gotta remember that one," Cyborg said.

With the god off-balance, Kid Flash kept up the momentum by running around him, kicking up dust into Kobra's eyes. Desperately, Kobra flailed about, the tip of his tail catching the speedster in the chest, sending him flying, but Starfire was able catch him and gently place him near Artemis.

"Keep up the pressure!" the archer said, drawing her last explosive arrow, "I'll keep him safe!"

Starfire nodded, then began bombarding Kobra with startbolts; the barrage distracted Kobra long enough for Superboy to jump and punch the god's chin with a super-strong uppercut. Before Kobra could retaliate, Cyborg and Safari slammed into one of his eyes, the former with a metal fist, the latter with steel-toed boots. Kobra jerked to the side, the sudden motion throwing the amulet about.

That was what Artemis had been waiting for. She fired her arrow, and it hit right where the chain connected to the amulet. The snake icon flew up into the air; before it hit the ground, Robin kicked it over to Ken, who had been standing protectively in front of the unconscious Seeker.

Ken caught it in one hand, where it shrunk to its normal size; Ken smirked at Kobra, who had frozen in terror. Without a word, Ken clenched his hand into a fist, turning the ancient artifact into dust.

"**NO!" **Kobra screamed, even as he began to change back into his human form, **"This can**not be! I am a god, I am…"

"Oh, shut up!" Safari yelled, smashing the butt of her shotgun into the side of the man's head, knocking him out. With that done, Ken gave a tired sigh.

"Someone contact the League," he said, "Tell them it's over."

While Robin handled that, Starfire, Artemis and Superboy began tending to the unconscious members of the Team. Cyborg, on the other hand, walked up to Safari, who stood over the unconscious Kobra.

"So," Cyborg said, "How'd you like your first mission on the Team?"

"Are we always going to be doing stuff like this?" Safari asked, "Going up against psychos, and weird stuff that we don't understand?"

Cyborg nodded. "Pretty much, yeah."

Safari grinned up at him. "When can we do this again?"

Ken smiled as he observed the exchange; he had a feeling that Safari would enjoy being a member of the Team, and from the way she was smiling at Cyborg, she'd already made a friend. Speaking of friends, he looked down at Seeker, still unconscious; he wasn't sure how he felt at the moment.

True, she'd lied to him about who she was, but considering who her father was, should he have been that surprised? He'd also seen how she trusted him when he'd given her an order; she hadn't even hesitated. So she still trusted him, but could he trust her?

It was something he would spend some time thinking about.

…

**Mount Justice, August 25, 00:23 EDT**

When Seeker woke up, she immediately knew that something was different. Falling back on her parents' training, she analyzed her surroundings, but didn't open her eyes, just in case someone was there to do a retinal scan.

Her father was paranoid like that.

First, she knew that she was no longer in Brazil; the air was much cooler and less humid, not to mention that she was lying on a bed, not the jungle floor. Second, she wasn't wearing her mask.

Her hand immediately flew to her face, though she calmed somewhat when she heard a familiar voice.

"It's okay," Ken said, "No one else saw under the mask, except for Vic, but he already knows who you are, and everyone else went home."

Valerie opened her eyes and looked around; she saw that she was in the Cave—the infirmary, if her study of the base's blueprints was correct—and Ken was sitting on a chair next to the bed she was lying on. Resting on a small table, on the other side of the bed, was her mask and hat; she reached for the mask first, but then decided against it, instead just putting on the hat.

"You were right, by the way," Ken continued, "As soon as we destroyed the amulet, Kobra turned back into his ugly self; he's in jail, along with the cultists that he didn't kill. When he turned back to normal, Kobra went through some kind of mental breakdown; as long as he's like that, his cult is finished."

Valerie nodded. "Good, that's one problem taken ca—ah!" her hand went to the side of her face, which ached immensely.

"Right, here you go," Ken said, holding out a bag of ice, "That'll hurt for a couple of days, but at least you didn't break anything."

Valerie nodded again, then accepted the ice and put it against her face. For a while, the two just sat there, neither looking at each other. It was Valerie who finally broke the silence.

"Listen, Ken, I…"

"I don't care," Ken interrupted bitterly, standing up, "Val, I trusted you! I told you that I was a superhero, and you couldn't tell me that you were, too!? We've been friends for years, Val!"

Valerie fought against the tears that threatened to fall; she knew that Ken might act this way, but that knowledge didn't make the pain any better.

"I wanted to tell you," she blurted out, "I swear I did, but… I guess I'm more like my dad than I thought. He barely trusts anyone, and even then, he still keeps secrets. I trust you with my life, but I couldn't trust you with…" she gestured to her costumed self, "My _other_ life."

Ken stared at her blankly, before sitting back down. He didn't say anything, so Valerie took that as a sign to continue.

"If you don't want me on the Team, just say so. I'll never bother you or Vic again, and you can just…"

She stopped when Ken gently placed his hand over her mouth. She looked up at him and, to her surprise, found him smiling a little.

"Why in the world would I want you off the Team?" he asked, removing his hand, "If you hadn't been there, we might not have figured out how to beat Kobra, and we might have died. You risked your life getting close enough to tell us about the amulet. Because of that… I'm willing to start over. A clean slate."

"Really?"

"Of course," Ken said, his smile widening, "You're my best friend, Val, and you know me; I can't stay mad at you for long."

Valerie started to smile.

"However," Ken said, his expression hardening, "You don't keep secrets like this again. Okay?"

Valerie didn't hesitate. "Deal."

Ken nodded in satisfaction, then surprised Valerie by wrapping her in a hug; despite being best friends, it was always Valerie who initiated hugs, not Ken. Still, that didn't stop her from giving a relieved hug in return. When they finally pulled away, Ken was grinning.

"You know this is awesome," he said, "You, me and Victor; we're all heroes on the same team!"

Valerie grinned back. "I know, this is great!"

"So, now that that's done, I just have one more question," Ken said, leaning back, "Why Seeker?"

"What?"

"I mean, why that name? What's the deal?"

Valerie shrugged. "My dad is The Question. He asks questions. I seek answers, ergo, Seeker."

"What, you didn't want to go with Questionnaire?" Ken teased.

"Shut up!" Valerie said in mock-anger, throwing her pillow at his laughing face.

When he finally stopped laughing, Ken stood up. "Your parents should be here soon, Val, so get some rest."

"What about you?" Valerie asked.

Ken's face darkened slightly. "Now I have to read the riot act to my parents."

"Don't get too mad at them," Valerie pleaded, "It was _my _parents who asked them to keep it a secret."

Ken sighed. "Fine, I won't explode or anything… but I reserve the right that all guys my age have: to get mad at their parents for no good reason!"

Valerie tried not to laugh.

Before he left, however, Ken bent over her and gave her one last hug; unlike the last embrace, which had been one of enthusiasm, this one was gentle and warm. For a moment, Valerie felt like melting into Ken's arms, before remembering herself; still, that didn't stop a light blush from forming on her face.

"Ken?" she asked, "What's wrong?"

Ken pulled away enough to look into her eyes, but didn't let go. "I'm just glad you're okay, Val."

Valerie nodded, then rested the uninjured side of her face on Ken's shoulder. "Thanks, Ken."

After a few seconds, Ken finally let go, and started to leave; at the doorway, he paused and turned around.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he said with a smile, "Welcome to the Team."

Valerie smiled back; that smile remained for a long time, even after Ken had left, and she had gone back to sleep.

...

**Unknown Location**

Several screens faced each other in a circle, the white silhouettes the only sign of their owners' identities.

"_So, one of our allies has fallen," _one figure mused.

"_It was a shame that Kobra decided to betray us," _another said, _"But his agenda wasn't going to align with ours for long. A pity that he wasn't able to kill any of those younger heroes."_

"_Having a god arrayed against us would have been troublesome," _a third voice said, then addressed the first voice, _"It was a good thing you sent that anonymous tip."_

The first figure seemed uncomfortable. _"It had to be done. Kobra betrayed us."_

"_That is correct,"_ a fourth voice, deep and gravelly, said, _"Kobra became our enemy, and those who shun the Light… shall not live without it for long."_

**Well, there you go. The end of Kobra and the introduction of two new members of the Team! The show really only showed Kobra once, so I thought I'd actually have them do more than one thing, and then actually have them get beaten. The show never did that, either. Other than that, I have a couple of things to talk about.**

**First, Safari: I wanted her to be really enthusiastic, kind of like Miss Martian, but with less hesitation. As for her having enhanced physical abilities from Vixen's magic necklace? In the words of Linkara: "It's magic, you don't have to explain it."**

**Second, Seeker: I wanted her to be like her father while in costume or with people she doesn't know so well, but act like a more normal teenage girl when not on the job or with people she trusts, like Ken. It may seem that Ken forgave her too easily, but look at his father: Ben forgave Kevin for all the times he tried to kill him and his family, so why not this?**

**Next up, we have some more stuff. That's about it.**

**Also, before you go anywhere, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that I won't be updating this story as often for the next few weeks. Sorry. The reason for this is the good news.**

**I have joined the first OCT (Original Character Tournament) on this site, which is being hosted by Rapidfyrez. For all the details, go to his profile, but I'll give you a brief summary. An OCT is a tournament of original characters that are pitted against each other by their creators; in the case of a literary OCT, like this one, whoever writes the better battle, with their character winning, moves on to the next round. I have entered the main character of my Star Wars story, Ryan Nimbus, into this tournament. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read my Star Wars story, Outcast Blades, and then my tournament story, The Calling, which is also the name of the tournament itself. **

**Seeing as how this story is going to have deadlines, as well as force me to be **_**really **_**creative, I'll be focused on that one more than this for a while. Sorry. However, if you yourself have a story with OC's in it, see Rapidfyrez' profile for all the rules, and you might be able to enter. Perhaps you and I will see each other in battle! **

**Until then, here's a muffin quote.**

**One does not easily eat a muffin in Mordor. **


End file.
